


The Dark Waves & Dreams Pop

by Exquisiteliltart



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), The Sandman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Enchanted Forest, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, Mean Girls meets The Craft, Swan Queen - Freeform, Young Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Young Emma Swan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-17 07:14:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 38,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4657422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exquisiteliltart/pseuds/Exquisiteliltart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sheltered Princess Emma attends the coming of age princess finishing school program and meets troubled Princess Regina, who hails from an enemy kingdom. Against parental warning, Emma gives in to peer pressure and tries making magic for the first time.  What starts off as harmless fun and naughty rebellion quickly gets out of hand, and Emma has to come to terms with the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Time to Wave Goodbye Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wistfulwatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wistfulwatcher/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Dark Waves and Dreams Pop [Fanfic Cover]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4821593) by [wistfulwatcher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wistfulwatcher/pseuds/wistfulwatcher). 



> I would love reviews on anything in this work that stands out. 
> 
> If you have any questions you'd like me to answer please comment and I promise to reply in a humorous fashion. Thank you so much for the support!
> 
> “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”― C.G. Jung

It was so embarrassing. The whole spectacle of the thing felt completely overwhelming. Emma just stood there at the entrance; her arms were at her sides, as Snow cried dramatically and clutched her like a porcelain doll.

It was bad enough she’d never been away from her home castle for even a night in her whole life, and now she was going to be away for the entire summer.

Emma thought she was going to like die here. Her mother was not going to be able to let her go _ever_. She could just imagine Snow bringing along an extra suitcase in the chauffeur carriage and jumping at the chance to move in to her dormitory chamber with her, too.

She let out a long whining sound when her mother squeezed her tighter and hummed, shaking her lightly back and forth. Maybe the sound of oxygen being pushed forcibly from her lungs was the sound of her soul escaping her body. She should be so lucky.

“Mom, come on, geez. I’m going to get teased enough,” she whispered into Snow’s ear and immediately regretted it. She felt her mother stiffen and pull away. She kept a hold of Emma’s shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. She released her grip with one hand to push a curled lock of hair behind her ear and fawned over her some more.

“Can’t a mother show her daughter some affection? This is a goodbye, darling.” Snow sniffled, and Emma just stared at her blankly as she hunched up her shoulders in sheer mortification. She looked around the courtyard that was bustling from the commotion of all the other princesses getting dropped off for school.

Everyone was watching her, she realized. She was powerless to do anything but let the sickening display of motherly doting continue.

“Mom, please,” Emma pleaded with wide eyes and gritted teeth. “Just leave already!”

That was the wrong thing to say because Snow cried harder and increased the volume. She turned from facing Emma and fell against her husband. Her dad had his arms wrapped around Snow, and Emma could see his lip quivering as he tried to hold it together. She knew she came from a big royal family of saps, but this was bordering on pathetic.

Apparently, crying jags were contagious.

Of course, she was super uncomfortable because it was hot outside and she had to wear a formal white gown emblazoned with her family crest. Mom’s glam squad of bluebirds and mice had done her hair and makeup for the big day.

The flowers and twigs were a bit of a overkill: the back of her head looked exactly like a nest because that was the only style the birds knew how to do. Emma just hoped none of the decorative little blue eggs dropped out and cracked on the marble.

She had been waiting for this summer for years: her whole life really. At least as far back as she could remember. Ever since her mother had told her about her special summer at _La Ville Flottante Des Fées_ , Emma had looked forward to her turn to go. She’d been sheltered and molded her entire life, and she’d finally get a chance to meet other girls who were just like her.

Princess Charm School was basically mandatory for all princesses in all realms upon reaching their eighteenth birthdays. It was one of those things that royalty just knew about, an annual tradition:

_A grand time to grow and prepare for all the rigorous duties that accompany being born of royal blood._

That’s what the invitation parchment had advertised.

As Emma saw it, most of her princess duties were already behind her. She hadn’t even cried at her Coronation ceremony, she’d been a beautiful child, posing at the foot of her parents’ thrones for commissioned paintings, and waving from her father’s side out over important gatherings.

Her personal storybook, a scrap book of sorts that chronicled her life, was drawn up and illustrated by her personal royal bard. She was aware of the fact that even the announcement of her birth was one of the happiest days her kingdom had seen.

When she hit her teenage years, things had taken a bit of a downward turn. Snow would never admit it, and even went so far as to have Emma’s storybook slightly falsified to paint a more becoming picture of her life events.

Emma hadn’t really been into being a princess anymore. She worked hard at her studies, but started to resent the flowery, over-the-top poofy gowns she had always been dressed in. She preferred to spend her free time watching the knights training in the courtyard, and longed to dress in leather and armor while wielding a sword.

Her parents called it a _phase._

Alas, she wore the gowns and had resigned herself to her station in life and tried to be grateful for everything she had. She did have more than any other young woman, or any other princess in her kingdom, and her maids and tutors reminded her of this on a daily basis.

Her life milestones were already set out for her before birth. When she reached her sixteenth birthday, she had her first ball, where she danced far past midnight and snuck hard ale from her father’s chalice. The ball had felt a bit stuffy and pink, but all in all a good party. Her mother called it a failure because she hadn’t met her true love.

The whole true love prince thing was a sore spot for Emma. It was becoming a point of contention within her family.

Emma saw this summer school as a place where the question of ‘What now?’ would finally be answered. Both her parents were still relatively young and healthy, there were no big wars looming on the horizon that might endanger either of their lives, so Emma was a de facto princess with no hopes of becoming a Queen anytime soon.

That is, unless she married a nice prince. She wasn’t worried about her next milestone yet. She had a whole summer to enjoy before she had to find and fall in true love and make her happily ever after, despite the pressure from Snow. She didn’t want to disappoint her parents or Mike, the bard, who had to write her story.

Being a princess wasn’t something she could just quit, after all.

Her father took his turn holding on to her, and she patted his back and quirked her lip up in a smile as he hugged her for what felt like an eternity.

Sometimes it was hard for them to let go.

Emma felt a gust of wind on her face and looked across the marble floors to where the Bird King and Queen, of the Raptor Kingdom, had just landed along with their feathered princess.

“She’s coming, too?” Emma whispered, at risk of sounding rude, but she was under the impression that the princess school was for humans only.

Snow was on friendly terms with all of the animal kingdoms in the Enchanted Forest. She had a unique ability to speak to any and all woodland creatures, and though Emma could understand them mostly, she didn’t communicate as well as her mother did.

“Of course, Emma.” Snow smiled hugely and waved her hand at an owl that fluttered her wing in return and hooted in greeting. Snow lowered her voice in sympathy, “They adjust the age requirement for the animals, as most of them have a much shorter _life_ span.”

Emma’s sudden concern shifted to the thought that her roommate might be a snake or a toad princess. Emma looked around as a squirrel and a fox darted past her and started the climb up the bridge that led to the Floating City, where the school was. (Really it was just a fancy name for an island.)

“Mom, what if certain princesses are natural enemies?” Emma asked as she received a curtsy and a bashful smile from one of the Rat King’s daughters. Certainly, that predator and prey animals on one campus could turn into trouble.

“Honey, you signed an agreement, don’t you remember?” Snow answered with another question. At least she’d stopped crying. David was unloading her book bag from the carriage, while her valet started carrying her heavier luggage over the bridge.

“Oh, yeah, what did it say again?” Emma remembered signing something, but she hadn’t bothered reading up on everything.

“That as long as you are on premises and in attendance that you agree to participate in a truce with all natural and unnatural enemies of our kingdom.”

Snow rummaged through her purse and brought out a copy of the contract scroll. She read, “There will be no harming, killing, eating, maiming, or disembowelment of any princess in attendance. Violations will not be tolerated and will result in expulsion and possible criminal prosecution.”

“I think I can handle that.” Emma nodded confidently. She didn’t have any desire to eat or kill anyone else of any other species. “So I should probably get going. I think I hear the bluebells ringing on the island.”

David placed Emma’s book bag, which held her books and study materials, in his daughter’s hands and clapped her on the back as he offered a proud smile. “Be good, Emma. I’m sure you’ll have a grand time. Remember to just say ‘no’ to any girls who offer to teach you magic. We don’t do _that_ in this family.”

“Dad, that’s not gonna happen!” Emma rolled her eyes, and held onto her bag.

“I knew we raised you right, baby,” he chucked her chin playfully, and she gave her father one last hug. “Now, I’ve gotta wrangle your mother into the carriage before she insists on staying for another round of goodbyes.”

“Thanks, Dad. Bye, Mom.” Emma waved at them both and, for the first time; she felt a prickle of tears in her eyes and an itch in her nose.

“I love you, baby!” Snow yelled even as the royal carriage was far down in the foothills. Emma took one last look and then turned to face the bridge that led across to the floating city.


	2. Delirious Gestures are so Easily Misread

Before she could even take a step, she felt an impact from behind, and then her bag was on the ground and her books were scattered and blowing haphazardly in the breeze. She heard a full bodied cackle and looked up in confusion to see a woman dressed in black with red hair and garishly green skin mocking her.

“What was that for?” Emma shouted after the very rude, green princess.

“You look like a stupid Swan in that dress, Princess,” the woman called back before laughing obnoxiously again and ascending the bridge.

Emma let out a huff, and couldn’t believe she’d already been insulted not one minute after her parents left. She set her jaw and bent over in the, albeit, cumbersome white dress to repack her suitcase.

“You do look like a swan,” a soft, sultry voice called over Emma’s shoulder, and she turned her head to give another person a piece of her mind.

 _Where was the respect among fellow princesses?_ She wondered

“But swans are graceful and beautiful creatures. Sorry about my sister.”

The voice had a _face_ and a _body_. Emma sat back on her heels and watched as the dark haired girl dropped to her knees and started to help pick up Emma’s books. She was gorgeous, and wearing a dark red cloak over a soft, buttery looking leather skirt. Emma found she was speechless. Finally, she mustered, “That green woman is your sister?”

“Yes, unfortunately. Zelena can be a bit rude. My name is Regina.” The girl smiled brightly, displaying a perfect row of white teeth, and Emma couldn’t help but beam her own smile in return. She was suddenly looking forward to Princess camp even more.

“Regina, come on, we need to get to our rooms like right now!”

Emma squinted toward the bridge and made out two blonde girls, both dressed in black, their hair crimped and wild in the wind.

“Just a moment,” Regina called back, but it was too late. Her shoulders slumped a bit and Emma noticed her posture changed to a more demure stance as the two girls made their way over.

“Aww, I can’t believe you’re talking to her,” the taller blonde addressed Regina and clapped her hands together in a slow mocking way. The other girl walked closer, a knobby white stick outstretched in front of her that she used to feel her way along as she walked up. “Regina, come on, my dogs are barking, and Mally is hungry.”

“No, hang on. I’m apologizing for my sister’s behavior,” Regina said defiantly, turning around smiling again toward Emma, but before she could speak, the tall blonde butted in between them and grabbed Emma’s hand.

“Hello, I know who you are, dear, but let me do the honor of introducing myself. I’m Maleficent, and this is my cousin, Carolyn. She’s blind but she can still see, if you know what I mean.”

Emma did not know what she meant at all. She pursed her lips as if to say something, but Carolyn interrupted and Emma tried not to look directly into her milky white pupil-less eyeballs.

“Hi,” Carolyn said cheerily and with a fluttery wave of her long fingers. She had nice fingernails, but she smiled creepily and sniffed the air as if she was trying to smell Emma.

“You’ve already met Regina, and her older sister, Zelena,” Maleficent continued, peering at Emma with a seemingly permanent smirk upon her lips.

“She’s never going to remember ‘Maleficent.’ I know you’re trying to reinvent yourself, Mally, but really, it’s like when that horsey prince Philip insisted we all call him ‘Phil’ at the banquet. It’s not going to work.” Regina stood up a bit taller in her shoes and challenged the taller girl.

“I’m proud of my name. You want to talk about a stupid name, let’s talk about your sister. What kind of name is Zelena anyway?” Maleficent lifted her chin and dropped her voice as her lips curled into a sneer.

“Yeah, why is Zelena even here? She’s twenty-three,” Carolyn piped up, while Emma just stood there looking dumb and admittedly Swanish.

Maleficent sighed when Regina stiffened up and shook her head.

“It’s a sore subject. When Zelena turned 18 she went off to the Yellow coast in Oz for Schoolies. And what was supposed to be a week long party stretched into four years for her. Finally, she sobered up when Regina went and found her because their dad was sick. Now, Zelena is trying to make up for lost time.”

Emma stared at Regina, her lips parting slightly. She suddenly had so many questions. She wanted to ask how they knew of her, but she’d never heard of any of them. She wanted to ask if Regina’s father was okay, and what he was the King of?

She thought better of it, and wondered if this is the way that everyone makes friends on their first day at princess school or if she was just a lucky one.

“Anyway, I guess you can call me ‘Princess Mal of the Dragons’, and I’ll call you ‘Princess Emma of the Light’.” Maleficent looked her up and down. “Or maybe I’ll just call you _Swan_.”

Regina turned to her and offered a shrug and a look of apology as the three girls walked briskly away, leaving Emma standing there to watch them walk over the arched bridge leading to the floating city.

She looked around self-consciously and realized that she was one of the stragglers now. It was just her and the sloth princess who had yet to start their journey over the bridge.

Emma clutched her suitcase tightly and trained her eyes forward. She licked her lips and started walking. The Floating City, in addition to serving as the place for princess school, was also where the male fairies, (also known as the Mairies) made their home. The School headmaster was a well-known and ruggedly handsome fairy named Twinkerbelle, twin brother to Tinkerbelle, a fairy fuckup that Emma had only heard stories about.

The female fairies were more scattered out and each princess had a personally assigned one.

The Blue Fairy was Emma’s godmother and personal wish granter. Each princess was bestowed three wishes of anything her heart desired at birth. Emma’s fairy godmother had first appeared when Emma was six. She had wished to have her ears pierced, but Snow had insisted she was too young. The Blue Fairy came into view one night and flicked her wand and exclaimed, “Your wish is granted.”

Afterwards, Emma had touched her newly heavy earlobes to find diamond stud earrings. She watched the fairy fly away leaving a trail of pixie dust in her wake over the kingdom.

Since then, Emma had only seen her when there had been a royal board meeting, and then she’d always been rather busy, and Emma hadn’t made any wishes. She wondered if she had gotten too old for wishes now. She kind of regretted wasting one on something as simple as ear piercing.

She blinked away the nostalgia and focused on the task at hand. The early morning dew had dried, but a low hanging mist obstructed the view of the floating city as Emma slowly crossed the narrow bridge that led to it.

The brochure had stated that the entire island was cloaked in powerful magic and only those who were invited could even see the city. Having all the heirs of all the kingdoms in the land on one island was at a huge risk for attack, but every precaution had been taken. This was also the reason why the city floated from place to place, and never stayed in the same location for long.

She had almost made it over the arc of the bridge and was walking down the other side when the when the whole island came into view. It was beautiful and lushly tropical. The princess campus was covered in beautiful flowers and exotic patterns of green vinery. Emma saw all the princesses disappearing into a large stone building. It was more rectangular than her castle, and, dare she say, even bigger. A large atrium was built off the side presumably to house the animal princess population.

With an excitement and eagerness she didn’t know she possessed she ran the rest of the way over the bridge. She was met by a fairy, named Bryan who escorted her up the winding halls of the dormitory and gave her a cursory tour as they went.

“Are you excited to meet your roommate?” Bryan asked as he smiled and batted his thick yellow wings darting around to stay on top of the current as they started inside. The Mairies could size shift, just like the female brethren. They could appear human or shrink down and fly. Emma never really got used to that.

“Yes,” Emma replied as she nodded eagerly. Her thoughts shifted to Princess Regina immediately and she fantasized that it would be her greeting her inside the room. She shook her head to clear it from the thought. There were tons of princesses here and the chances were slim that she’d be roomed with the first girl she’d met.

“Downstairs is the cafeteria, it’s open for breakfast and lunch. Snacks are available at all times, and dinner is served formally in the grand hall.” Bryan shook his wand at the cafeteria and flew up a staircase, pausing in a cloud of sparkles to wait for Emma to hoist her large dress up and join him.

He told her where the infirmary was located in case she felt sick, and pointed out the lounge, which included a small library.

“Your mother’s storybook is on hand in the lounge. It’s quite an honor to meet you, Princess.”

Emma let out a small ‘hmm’ sound, which conveyed acknowledgement but not happiness or disappointment. She didn’t think she needed any special treatment or any of the other princesses getting jealous because of who her parents were.

“Here we are.” Bryan flew in front of the door and suddenly grew to full size. Emma jumped back to give him room. His wings had disappeared and Emma could make out the stubble on his cheeks. He handed her a golden key, and she knocked lightly before she unlocked the door.

“Remember if you lose your key, replacements are 50 gold and will be charged to your parents, so don’t lose it.” Bryan smiled and bowed lightly, before closing the door behind Emma and leaving her alone in her room with her roommate.


	3. You Must Earn Their Empathy

“Hey, Princess Emma of the Light Kingdom. I’m Ruby, Princess of the Wolves. My grandma is friends with your mom.” The imposing, slinky brunette was lying on her side on the top bunk, and sporting a wide smile.

“Hi.” Emma was a bit awestruck. She’d heard all about werewolves and the tales of their brutality and bravery, but she’d never met one before. Her roommate wasn’t entirely human after all. “What’s it like to transform?”

Ruby tossed her head back and laughed. “It’s indescribable.”

“Oh,” Emma replied, feeling small and suddenly bashful. Her luggage had been delivered and stacked in the corner of the room and she took a moment to acquaint herself with what would be her new home for the duration of the summer.

The dormitory was ornately decorated in gold leaf trim over pale pink walls. It was utterly and completely a Princess room. Emma worried her eyes might bleed. It was bad enough she had to dress up every day, and now she had to live in a room that looked like a doll house.

Collapsing onto the bottom bunk, Emma felt relieved from the heft of her dress, but something was already stabbing her in the back. The corset pinched her waist and she wondered how long until she could change out of it. There were two desks in the room and each one had a welcome packet with an orientation itinerary sitting on top.

“When did you arrive, Ruby?” Emma asked politely, noticing that one of the closets was already full with a disturbing number of red cloaks and simple dresses.

“Not too long ago. Listen, I probably won’t be spending many nights sleeping here. I plan to be out running most of the time. Normally, I sleep in a cave with my pack during the day, so it’s like a major adjustment, you know? I wanted to tell you so you’re not always wondering where I’m at,” Ruby explained, twirling her hair around a finger and acting like going on a werewolf run was completely run of the mill small talk.

Emma nodded and her eyes widened as she realized she was so out of her element. She often wished she wasn’t an only child. Her parents talked about having another child, but it hadn’t happened in eighteen years, so it didn’t seem likely. She had always wished that she had someone to play with who understood her, so she wouldn’t feel so alone and, at times like these, ignorant.

That seemed to be a wish that her fairy godmother had never bothered to grant.

“It’s safer for everyone involved. I wouldn’t want to accidentally eat a princess while I’m in wolf form,” Ruby joked, or at least Emma thought she was joking. She responded by laughing nervously, and thought about the contract they’d all had to sign. She let out the breath she’d been holding, and started to read the itinerary. It said she’d be meeting her academic partner later that day. The rest of the morning and afternoon was free time to get settled in and explore the campus.

“Do you know any of the other girls here?” Emma tore her eyes away from the pamphlets and looked up at Ruby.

“Yeah, a few…the Fox princess, Stephanie, and I are pretty tight. Princess Peach is pretty cool, I knew her from school…And you, of course. Everyone knows about the great and beautiful princess born of true love to Queen Snow and King Charming.”

Emma gulped and felt her mouth go dry. Something about Ruby’s tone harbored a hint of jealousy or mocking. She didn’t realize she had such a reputation or that her parents were so famous. It made her feel uncomfortable, and now it made sense why she felt like everyone looked at her just a little too long during the send offs.

“You’re joking. Most people don’t know of me,” Emma stated, trying to believe it to be true.

“Yeah, right. You’re like super famous, and not just around the Enchanted Forest. You are like so popular. Don’t be all coy about it.” Ruby’s eyebrows shot up and she turned over on her stomach to prop her hands up on her chin.

“Oh, awesome.” Emma shrugged, but her heart was pounding. She didn’t want this feeling to get under her skin. She felt enough scrutiny at home, she was hoping to go under the radar at school, but if Ruby’s perspective was accurate, that wasn’t going to be possible.

“It’s a good thing people respect you. It’s nothing bad, don’t worry. And if anyone does have a problem, it’s just because they’re jealous. You’re the best of the best, is all.” Ruby snickered and let her eyes wander over Emma’s poofy dress. “You’re really doing me a favor actually. You can guarantee I’ll be name dropping my famous roommate when I get in trouble around here.”

It felt unnerving to be judged, however positively, based on her name and title. She couldn’t help who she was born to. Emma patted at her nest of hair and managed a weak smile when they heard a knock at the door.

Emma went to answer it, and a flurry of maids rushed in and began to unpack her luggage and organize her things into drawers. She was used to the treatment at home, but she had hoped to escape it here. She wanted to do things for herself.

It took only a matter of minutes for everything to be put away in its proper place and, after the maids curtsied to her and asked if anything else was needed presently, Emma and Ruby both shook their heads and the three girls exited swiftly.

Emma sagged down on the lower bunk and sighed. She spent the rest of her morning idly chatting with Ruby and poring over the map of the campus and the island. Along with the more information on the school, which clearly emphasized academics secondary to etiquette and husband hunting lessons, Emma read over the rules.

The very first rule emphasized a strict adherence to the no magic allowed policy. That wouldn’t be a problem; Emma had no desire to learn magic. Some kingdoms were known for it, but the Light kingdom only used the magic of the fairies and had an arsenal of magical defenses that were only to be used if the kingdom came under attack.

As far as Emma knew, there was virtually zero risk of that happening. The only kingdom that was enemy to the Light Kingdom was the Shadow Kingdom, formerly known as Wonderland. Emma wasn’t even supposed to know that much. She had been completely kept in the dark on all political matters unless she her presence was required for a military ball.

She felt foolish sometimes only ever overhearing information about her own kingdom from the maids and valets who gossiped as they worked and quieted down whenever they were made aware that Emma was there.

She lay back on the bed in her ridiculous gown and allowed herself a moment to feel decidedly unprincesslike. She made a face and arched her back, twisting on the bed. It was so uncomfortable, like a fire poker was jabbing into her spine from the pits of hell.

She already missed her soft perfect mattress from home. She chastised herself for feeling homesick already, and forced her thoughts away. She spent time aimlessly drifting over the rules and then her eyes popped open as she realized she was wondering if Regina’s bed was comfortable. She sat up when one of the decorative twigs in her hair poked into her scalp.

….

Ruby and Emma made their way down to the cafeteria for their first lunch on campus. They passed by the bird feeders and the feeding troughs set up from some of the smaller animal princesses and around to the line. Ruby handed Emma a tray and, as they drifted through the line, Emma vaguely noticed Ruby piling various meats onto her tray. She was too busy looking around at all the other girls.

When she felt Ruby pat her back to get her attention she looked down at her heavy tray, “What’s all this?”

“I didn’t want to look greedy so I put some of my food on your tray,” Ruby explained casually. They walked around, trying to find an open table, but a feeling of fear started in Emma as, the more they looked, it appeared that all of the tables were full and the other girls were giving her weird looks.

Ruby leaned down in a whisper, giving some other girls the side eye, “Um, do you want to go back to the room?”

Emma nodded as her cheeks colored in embarrassment. She got the feeling that they were all talking about her. Maybe being famous didn’t make her popular as much as it made her an outcast. This was supposed to be the place where she met her lifelong friends.

She gripped her tray full of meat a bit tighter and sucked in as deep a breath as she could in her corset. She turned on her heel and followed Ruby back up the stairs.


	4. In the Light I'm Falling

What Emma didn’t see was Regina waving her over to her table. Her eager smile drooped instantly when she watched Emma ascend the stairs without looking back.

“Sit down, Regina.” Mal yanked on the laces of her leather corset and pulled her back down to the bench. “We don’t need any extra attention. We’re not here to make friends with the Princess of the Light Kingdom. You know better than that.”

“Shut up,” Regina mumbled and placed her elbows on the table, casting a nasty glare at Mal and Carolyn. She speared a slice of brisket and shoved it in her mouth, chewing angrily.

“Ursula! Over here, darling!” Mal lifted her chin and smiled in delight when Princess Ursula sashayed over to their table. She went around giving each woman air kisses in salutation.

“Long time no see, Mally.” Ursula swept her tentacles to the side with a practiced flourish and sat down like she owned the place. There was a silent understanding between the two princesses. They had both lost their mothers when they were young, but their fathers were closely aligned. The Sea kingdom and the Dragon kingdom were strong allies.

The women talked amicably as they ate, but Regina was only half paying attention to her friends. She hadn’t seen Zelena since they’d been dropped off at school by their personal portal jumper, Jefferson. She was wondering about the exotic and nervous, Emma. She recognized a kindred spirit in her and wanted to get to know her better.

She fidgeted with her dress and hurried behind after they cleared their trays in the cafeteria and crossed the beautiful courtyard to make their way to the auditorium for the Welcome Address.

The seats and aisles were almost full when they arrived, and Mal cleared her throat and glared at a group of lizards and geckos, until they doubled up on seats so the four of them could sit together.

“Mal!” Regina hissed. “That was rude.”

“What? They are tiny and, as the Dragon princess, I pull rank over all other reptiles. I’m not even sure that salamander is fully female.” Mal squinted at the black and yellow creature, and it scurried away, taking offense to her comments.

Regina took a seat and shut her mouth. She scanned the area to hopefully catch sight of Emma. She was hard to miss in a crowd with her shiny white gown and beautiful yellow hair. She craned her neck and turned her head, until she felt Mal lean over and put a hand on her thigh.

“I know you’re looking for her,” she whispered, but her tone was pure amusement. “Who would have figured that the Princess of the Shadow Kingdom would be such a fan of the famous Light Princess?”

“I’m not looking for her,” Regina lied boldly and her bottom lip naturally pouted. “I was looking for my sister.”

“Ahem, Zelena is right there.” Mal rolled her eyes and pointed slightly to right. It was hard to miss a woman with green skin, red hair and a pointy black bedazzled hat sitting amongst a group of apes and monkeys from the Jungle Kingdom.

Regina slumped in her seat, knowing she had been too obvious. She couldn’t slip anything past her friends, not even Carolyn, who for a blind lady sure saw a lot.

The fireflies flickered around them in a swirling mass to signal everyone to take their seats. Regina swiveled her body and discreetly scanned the room once more, but didn’t see Emma anywhere. The lights went dim and a spotlight focused on the stage.

The head fairy walked out and waved at the young women as they politely offered a round of applause.

“Welcome, my lovelies. It’s such a joy and honor to bring you here to share in theeighty-fourth annual commencement of our Charm school.” He raised his hands and clapped in celebration.

“We have an excellent group of wonderful Princesses from every realm imaginable joined here to learn and experience the joys of Princess hood. Each and every one of you is so special. I hope you each have found the rooms and dining experience up to your high standards. Please find me or a staff fairy if you have any questions or concerns.”

There was a flutter in the audience and everyone looked above, ooh-ing and aw-ing as fairies flitted over each princess, dropping tiny parachutes with a card attached down to everyone.

“Now, I know you’ve all met your roommates, but in addition we are now passing out the names of each of your academic partners. We matched you up with another girl who we hope will help challenge you and offer balance in your strengths and weaknesses.”

Regina watched as a fairy buzzed over her head, trailing pixie dust along and released her card. The tiny parachute shifted on the air currents until it gently fell down far enough that she could reach out and grab it.

She wasted no time in ripping the red wax seal and unrolling the parchment. She raised her hand to cover her mouth when she saw the neatly scripted fairy handwriting of the name on the card:

_Princesse Emma du Royaume Lumière_

“You got _Swan_? Of course you did.” Mal rolled her eyes forcibly and crumpled her card, tossing it unceremoniously onto the salamander in the seat over.

Regina hugged the card to her chest and gave Mal a glare.

“It’s private,” she scolded. A beat passed and she slid her eyes over to Mal’s crumbled card. “Who is yours?”

“It’s private,” Mal snapped back, mocking her tone. She conceded a moment later. “I'm partnered with the wolf princess: Ruby or Red, whatever. Not like I care.”


	5. Held in the Eye of Night

After lunch, Emma and Ruby walked across campus and filed in to the auditorium, eager and nervous for the school to begin.

Emma sat in the very back of the auditorium. She felt exposed and self-conscious. When the parachute dropped over her lap, the fairy delivering it buzzed by her face and winked at her. She slowly broke the seal on her card and blinked in surprise at the name on it:

_Princesse Regina du Royaume de l'Ombre_

She read it over and whispered with a gasp of surprise, “Oh no!”

Regina was the Princess of the Shadow Kingdom.

“Who is it?” Ruby looked over at her card and laughed. “Why are you upset?”

“My family doesn’t even recognize the Shadow kingdom as a true royal land. It’s our only enemy, and I don’t even know why.” Emma felt completely disheartened. Her excitement over getting to spend time with the one person besides her roommate who had actually been nice to her was replaced with a feeling of unequivocal dread. “I’m going to have to go to Twinkerbelle and request a new partner.”

“Whatever, you were paired up with her for a reason.” Ruby shrugged, but her eyes were sympathetic to Emma’s plight. She opened her mouth to speak, but then sat back in her seat as sheepishly as a wolf could. Emma noticed.

“What are you thinking?” She furrowed her brow and placed a hand on Ruby’s arm in inquiry.

“Nothing. It’s just that, you already have a reputation for being like a diva or whatever. If you request to change partners it’s going to turn into a big deal.” Ruby winced and bit her lip. “I’m just saying. It might be better to get along in the name of community spirit and goodwill.”

Emma groaned and nodded in reluctant agreement. She stared down at the card again, wondering how Regina was feeling at seeing Emma’s name as her partner. If Emma’s mom found out, she’d be disappointed, but she’d surely understand it wasn’t Emma’s choice to work with the enemy of the kingdom.

“Don’t worry so much. I really don’t think that you’ll have to spend all that much time with her anyway. It’s just a tradition to help princesses get to know each other outside of their social circle.” Ruby smiled kindly.

“If it makes you feel any better I’m paired up with the dragon princess, Maleficent. Us wolves aren’t exactly known for our love of fire breathing reptiles.”

“Thanks, it does.”

Emma fidgeted in her seat and anxiously threaded her fingers through her up do, pulling a few locks loose. Her dress was getting more and more uncomfortable as the day wore on. Not just physically; everything about her whole look screamed ‘Light Kingdom.’ She already had a nickname all because of her stupid dress.

The welcoming address ended with a few songs played by the fairy string quartet. The music and dimness of the warm room calmed Emma down and she decided to take Ruby’s advice and not worry. She’d have a chance to speak with Regina soon enough. The thought excited her, and she had the sudden urge to go back to her room and freshen up before the academic partner meetings

Emma left the auditorium early and felt relieved to sneak out into the slightly cooler air. She still hadn’t really walked around the campus, so she took the time to walk the paths around the buildings and clear her head. She knew the island was relatively small and only inhabited by the fairy men and select wildlife. It was however, quite famous for its peculiar vegetation and flora.

She found the swimming pool. It was huge and sun chairs of various sizes were stacked neatly in rows. Emma loved to swim, and thought fondly of her times at her family’s summer palace that boasted a pool of about this size. She was forbidden from swimming in most natural bodies of water as most held magical properties of one sort or another.

On the climb back up to her room, on impulse, she poked her head into the lounge. She looked around at the elegant chairs and the table between them that held a chess board with carefully carved pieces from ebony and ivory. The pieces were all in place patiently waiting for a game to start. She reached out to pick up the black queen, but just as her fingers were about to wrap around the cool stone and hold its weight she drew them back.

She couldn’t bear to disturb the perfection.

Wandering over to the book shelf, she read the titles on the spines. She recognized many of her mother’s friends' stories and knew that some of their daughters were also in attendance, but she didn’t know the girls from neighboring kingdoms at all. Whenever Snow had gone to visit her friends, it was strictly adults only.

Emma had always been left behind.

She easily found the worn, but well-loved copy of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’, and pilfered it from the shelf, while looking around with guilt even though she knew she was alone.

She sighed in relief and left the room. A thought passed through her mind and she re-entered, looking over the chess board once more. On impulse, she quickly moved a white pawn one spot out. Smiling in secret satisfaction she retreated to her room with the book.


	6. Spellwork Delights

“And they all lived happily ever after,” Emma read out loud accenting her voice with sarcasm. “I’m not even in this book at all.” She slammed the story of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’ shut and sighed. As she lowered the book, two small black eyes came into view and she realized she was staring at a fat rat.

“Princess Emma,” the rat squeaked at her and Emma’s eyes widened. “I am Princess Epifania.”

“Hey,” Emma greeted her, but couldn’t keep the look of confusion from her face. She remembered the rat princess from earlier in the day, but had no idea why she was here in her room now.

“Sorry to disturb your reading, but I need to beg you for sanctuary,” the rat princess started.

“Sanctuary?” Emma leaned forward as her skirt crinkled beneath her, so she could hear the high pitched squeak of the rat.

“I—I’m pregnant, you see, and if my father, the Rat King finds out about the babies he’ll have them killed. I beg of you that I can hide here and birth my kittens,” the princess seemed to be emotional, but Emma couldn’t really tell because rats weren’t super emotive.

“Why would your dad kill his grandkids?” Emma had never heard of such a cruel act.

“The father..he’s not a prince and I’m unwed…please, Milady? I feel my labor coming on, they will be arriving soon,” she pressed her front paws together and implored Emma to help.

“Yeah, sure…no problem. Um…so where are you going to have them?”

“I thought a nice shoebox would be perfect, that is, if you don’t mind?”

…..

Emma couldn’t say she’d ever received a stranger request than to turn a shoebox into a rat birthing suite, but it wasn’t like she was really being put out, and since the matter seemed to be life and death, she was happy to help the poor girl.

Not sure of the time, Emma decided to make her way to class. She felt unduly nervous to meet Regina. She held up her dress, and felt every passing moment that the damned thing got heavier.

She entered the room, and all eyes turned to her immediately. It was like people stopped mid conversation to stare at her. She looked around for Ruby or anyone she recognized, and her anxiety tripled when she spotted Regina in the corner flanked on either side by her friends.

They seemed to be observing the other princesses and making side comments to each other. Regina was smiling, but looked uneasy. Emma’s heart pounded harder as she built up the courage to walk over and officially meet her academic partner.

Regina saw her across the room and Emma noticed the way her posture changed. She seemed to stand taller and she stepped out from her little group of friends. They walked towards one another, and Emma tried to rehearse what to say in her head, but everything she came up with sounded cheesy: ‘So we’re partners? We make quite the team, eh?’ Ugh. She took a calming breath and felt her damned corset cinch tighter around her waist. She felt light headed either from lack of oxygen or anxiety.

Regina now stood directly in front of her, and they both blinked and averted one another’s eyes for a long moment, until the tension became unbearable. Emma chuckled nervously for no reason, and Regina’s brows furrowed. “Something funny, Princess Swan?”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh…no…you can call me Emma, my name isn’t Swan, despite what your friends say,” Emma squeezed her eyes shut, regretting her words immediately. She had just come out on the defensive and Regina looked wary and offended.

Things couldn’t be going any worse. The easy banter from their first meeting had completely dissipated and Emma was left twisting and in need of a serious distraction. Emma stared at her in contemplation, now that she knew Regina’s home kingdom was enemy to her own, she looked at her differently.

Luckily, Maleficent stepped in and rudely pushed between them breaking their death glare.

“It’s time for arts and ‘crafts’ come along, girls,” Mal looked pointedly at Emma and then Regina. “You can bring your partner if you like, Regina.”

Regina rolled her eyes and grabbed Emma by the wrist. She whispered in her ear as they walked across the large room, and all the other girls stared at the unlikely group. “Do you have to wear that damned dress, it’s so unbecoming. If you and I have to be partners I think you need to change. The other girls don’t like you because even for a princess, you’re too fancy.”

“The other girls like me, they just don’t know what to make of me, my kingdom is really famous,” Emma felt the need to defend herself.

Mal pushed Emma and Regina through a door, and ushered Ursula and Carolyn in after them. She looked around to make sure none of the fairy instructors had noticed their exit from class.

Emma saw that they were in a smaller chamber off from the main room. It was sparsely furnished and cold. “Circle up, ladies, you all know your roles…except, our dear Swan.”

“What are we doing?” Emma looked on in confusion as Maleficent produced a satchel from under her skirts and started pulling vials of herbs and liquids out of it. She passed something that looked like dried up boogers to Emma and she turned up her nose.

“You should be a little more grateful, honey. We’re here to help, though I don’t know why…it was Regina’s idea, you see.”

“Help me with what?” Emma asked again, feeling like there was definitely a conspiracy against her.

Regina motioned to the floor with her eyes to encourage Emma to sit in a circle, while Carolyn started pouring salt around them.

“Emma, you need a group…the other girls here think you act too good for them, so we’re here to take you under our wings…or tentacles, whichever you prefer,” Ursula smirked and let one of her large slimy tentacles slither out from under her dress for Emma’s benefit.

“Which means you need a makeover!” The usually reserved Carolyn, shouted exuberantly.

“See, she’s blind and even knows that your fashion taste is a disaster,” Mal hooked a thumb toward Carolyn and lifted an eyebrow at Emma.

“Why do you care so much if people like me?” Emma whined in exasperation.

“Oh, honey we’re your only friends!” Regina said in a patronizing tone. This hurt Emma a bit, but when she turned to face the brunette, she gave her a somewhat sad look that told Emma that she sympathized more than she was letting on and the rude routine was more for the benefit of the rest of the group.

“So what’s with the chocolate covered marijuana beans and sea salt?” Emma shook up her vial of black dried herbs and peered inside another at two entwined old looking flower stems. “I don’t want to do drugs.”

“Magic!” Carolyn exclaimed as she rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

“What?!” Emma’s jaw dropped. The glass jar of dead flower stems didn’t look anything like magic she had heard about, admittedly her knowledge was extremely limited. Magic was the worst drug possible.

“Magical arts and the Craft, you’re in my classroom now, Swan.” Maleficent chuckled and moved behind Emma. She placed her fingertips on her shoulders and poked until Emma sat down in a heap of chiffon on the cold floor of the dusty chamber.

“You are holding what is known as Adam and Eve root. It’s used in a number of spells, but mainly for love charms,” Mal explained, sidling over to Emma and flicking the jar with her sharp fingernail. “What better for the notorious daughter of bonafide true love? There are two orchid roots: one for the male and one for the female.”

“Technically, it’s Orchis Mascula. My mother used to make and sell it at the stalls as a drink, we called it Saloop. It’s said to have aphrodisiac properties,” Ursula made this bit of information sound positively scandalous.

“Please, aside from the fact that some species of the root look like a testicle?” Regina just sounded annoyed. She was good at that; she often sounded irritated Emma noted. Curiously, she didn’t find it grating, just curious as to why Regina was always so on edge with her friends.

“Priapus is the God of the gardens, show some respect,” Carolyn scolded the girls as she snatched Emma’s vial away, opened it up and sniffed it. Emma was starting to get it. Her new friends were not only princesses, but budding sorceresses and they wanted to corrupt her with aphrodisiac love spells and gods only knew what else Mally was about to pull out of her purse and thrust upon poor innocent Emma.

Her parents had warned her about this very situation and here she was sitting in a circle of salt about to partake in Orfus Summer’s Eve flower or whatever the hell it was.

Emma cleared her throat and tried to appear comfortable with what was happening. Regina seemed to sense her unease and came to sit next to her. “Um, so I’ve never done magic or anything. I didn’t know you needed all these flowers and herbs for it.”

Regina smiled so sweetly and tilted her head. “It depends on the spell or potion. There are many kinds of magic.”

“So where’s your spell book?” Emma blinked and looked around. All witches had spell books.

“We prefer calling it a ‘book of shadows’ or our ‘personal coven grimoire’,” Mally said with a bit of a bite. “We’re still working on it. We haven’t tried very many spells yet.”

“Nice one!” Ursula commended her on the coolness of the name.

She produced a leather bound book and flitted through the numerous blank pages. So far the book of shadows looked like a plain old blank journal.

“We’re going to write bad things we want to happen to other people who do wrong by us in it. So excited!” Carolyn informed her enthusiastically.

“No we are not. It’s not a burn book, it’s for powerful spells, not petty slander and bullying,” Regina snatched the book from Mal, and stood her ground.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ursula said sarcastically, scrunching her nose and eyebrows as she rolled her eyes.

“What do you think Emma?” Regina turned to her as well as the other girls in the room, as a long drawn out silence slid over the room like a rolling mist. They were all waiting for Emma’s opinion. Was she in or was she out?

“I don’t think I know anything about magic. It seems dangerous,” Emma finally stuttered. She stood up and decided to leave.


	7. Come, Let's Play

Emma didn’t get out the door before Mally started ranting.

“I think you know more about magic then you’re letting on. Look around this place, everything is run by magic. We’re sitting on an island that’s like 90% pixie dust. It’s like the dumbest taboo: it’s somehow okay to use magic when it’s benefitting whatever it justifies, but what? We’re not allowed to try because our reasons for wanting it aren’t noble enough?” Maleficent was off on a rant that didn’t make a whole lot of sense to Emma. She wasn’t sure what this all had to do with her.

“My parent’s forbid me from using magic. They say it’s corruptive, and fairies are…fairies…they can use magic without consequence…”

“No one uses magic without consequence,” Regina warned darkly. She had been biting her lip, refraining from comment as she listened to Mal and Emma essentially ignorantly debate one another.

“Emma, forgive me for saying so, but you sound like an idiot. It’s common knowledge that the Light Kingdom funds the pixie dust mines. Snow White is a close personal friend of the dwarves and she’s practically in bed with the Blue Fairy. Like I heard she’s even your fairy godmother. So don’t even try to act like you’re all opposed to using magic for power and profit. I mean do you even know the stats? Millions of Dwarves are maimed and killed in pixie dust mining incidents every year.”

“Huh? Is that true?” Emma asked, she’d never heard that statistic before. As far she knew the dwarves made a pretty good living working in the mines, and it was relatively safe.

“Um, probably!” Maleficent threw up her arms to emphasize her point.

“All I’m saying is that fairy magic is okay, it’s different, but whatever magic- black magic – it’s illegal where I come from and for good reason,” Emma felt ganged up on, but she didn’t want to alienate her only friends and she realized saying it was okay to use some magic, but not other magic was kind of hypocritical.

She got up and stepped outside the salt circle, messing up the perfect lines. “I should go. It’s got to be getting close to dinner time, right? I saw on the cafeteria menu it’s a Carne Chimera taco bar. Sounds delicious. Can’t wait.” Emma started to slowly back out of the room. She chuckled nervously, watching all the eyes on her. “Good talk. See you there. Okay byyyyye.”

The ladies advanced on her with dark looks, and stopped her before she could leave.

“This really isn’t how we thought this would go, Princess,” Mal threatened. “You see, how can we be sure to trust you not to tell the headmaster what we’re all about if you don’t use any magic yourself?”

“Let her go,” Regina moved in-between Emma and Mally and balled her fists in warning.

Mal laughed wickedly, “Oh, Regina always the protector. What do you see in this girl anyway? I thought you said you thought she had inherent magic, but she’s not exactly lighting up the room now is she?” Mal looked Emma up and down. “She’s just a dull looking poof.”

“Hey, wait…I’m not going to snitch on you guys…” Emma put her hands up worriedly. She shouldn’t have let herself believe even for a moment that she had actually found a group of friends. They just wanted something from her like everyone else did.

“Prove it,” Carolyn demanded in a high pitched shriek.

“She doesn’t have to do anything…” Regina came to her defense again.

“No, she does…if you’re so sure she has magic, and you think you’re the best little sorceress this side of the Enchanted forest, then show us what you can do, Regina,” Mally was adamant and intimidating.

Looking at Emma with worry, Regina’s eyes went dark, and her expression stormy. She took Emma’s hands in hers and pulled her to the middle of the circle.

“I know you have magic…I can feel it,” Regina told her as she set her jaw and rubbed circles with her thumb over the top of Emma’s palms. “Just try to feel it too…if you just use a little we can be sure you won’t tell on us because you’ll be just as guilty.”

“Show us what you got, Regina,” Ursula’s voice sounded far away and taunting. Emma couldn’t tear her eyes away from Regina’s.

“I promise not to hurt you,” the young witch said with a look of intense concentration as she held up Emma’s hands and studied her body in a way that made Emma weak in the knees and want to cover herself up despite being fully clothed in enough material for twenty normal dresses.

A strange purple mist began to arise around Emma, her voice caught in her throat, she felt paralyzed. Regina was shaking with an unseen force. Emma caught the same purple glint in her eyes right before she was fully consumed by the sage and lavender smell of the purple cloud.

She felt her dress whipped away and suddenly Emma’s ribs were no longer pinched in a corset and she could freely move her arms. Regina was still holding her hands as the mist dissipated and Emma looked down to see that she was wearing a completely different outfit.

Regina dropped her hands and her head lolled back in exhaustion as the other witches stood in stunned silence appreciating that she had really gone and given the hopeless Swan a snazzy makeover with magic.

Emma stood there in a white blouse, fitted under a navy tunic. Her brown suede leather belt matched soft brown leather pants and knee high boots. Her hair was out of its signature bird’s nest do, and hung in a long inverted wrap around braid style.

“I can’t believe you actually did it!” Mal clapped Regina on the back; she was blinking rapidly and staring at Emma, unable to speak.

“Damn, I look good and that felt…” Emma was shaking her head and looking over her shoulder to check out her own butt.

“Magical?” Ursula deadpanned.

She took a moment to pause and think about it, jolts of electrical current were coursing up and down her body.

“I feel different…” Emma took a sharp breath and looked herself over again as she felt up her body and the new clothes.

Maleficent shot a warning glance at Regina and they looked around amongst themselves.

“Is it time for dinner yet?” Emma asked, feeling a dizzy and lightheaded from the tendrils of light and magic floating orb-like around the room.

“You’re still thinking about tacos?” Mal asked with amusement. “Regina, really? You dressed her like _that_? Like a boy?”

“I didn’t think that would actually work!” Regina breathed out in wonder; she stepped closer to Emma and inspected the new outfit. Tentatively, Regina ran her fingers over the fine suede leather of the tunic on Emma’s shoulder. “And it wasn’t my will to dress Emma in…so much leather. It was her subconscious idea.”

A strange rippling sensation coursed through Emma’s body, and the dizziness increased. Her vision dimmed, and she closed her eyes to fight the feeling that she was about to pass out.

“Come on, we have to try it again,” Ursula pulled on Emma’s arm to break her out of her trance like state and she shook her head in wonder.

“Where are we going?” Emma was sick of asking questions, everything felt strange and different. This was magic, the forces in their lands that her parents had warned her staunchly about over and over.

She had promised her father that she wouldn’t get involved, but she felt different now that she’d experienced it. She felt like something long dormant had finally been awoken inside her. The weirdness and newness of the feeling was addictive, and Emma knew then and there that she was already beyond the point of no return.

“We shouldn’t push it,” Regina reasoned and gave a stern look to Maleficent, who already seemed to be thinking of new ways they could combine their powers. “Look at Emma, it’s already affecting her. This could be dangerous.”

“I want to try it out,” Emma stated, taking a deep breath. Regina whipped her head around in confusion, and they locked eyes.

“I don’t know what brought out your natural abilities, but it’s not like jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool. You have to gradually work up to doing spells, too much at once and there’s no telling what will happen.”

“Shut up, Regina… take Emma and meet us in the Mondegreen Woods. We need to get off campus and go to the beach, where we won’t get caught, if we really want to see what she’s capable of,” Maleficent challenged Regina who drew in a sharp inhale, but said nothing. She hung her head in defeat.

“We’re not going to go crazy, let’s just see what other gifts she has. If she mastered transformation in one try, imagine what else she can do,” Carolyn said slipping in her two cents to the group.

“Nothing that will hurt her,” Regina pleaded, adamant, as she took Emma’s hand. Emma gasped as she felt another strong wave of pleasant, warmth swimming through her veins. She felt like she was vibrating on a whole new wavelength. How could something that felt this good, possibly be bad? She wondered as she stared at her and Regina’s interlocked fingers.

“Come on,” Regina’s shoulder tensed as she pulled Emma out of the room, and headed towards her dorm.

“Where are we going? And why are we sneaking around?” Emma asked in a panicked whisper.

“I’m taking you back to my dorm so if anyone sees you tonight I can tell them that I loaned you some of my clothes, rather than having the most famous princess here calling attention to your _magical_ costume change,” Regina sounded tired and peeved with Emma’s insolence.

They snuck down the back corridor, keeping their fingers entwined. Emma had to admit she felt much more comfortable wearing her new outfit. Regina’s touch burned and soothed her all at once.

She didn’t want to let go.


	8. Haze All Clouded Up My Mind

“Regina, your roommate is a fox.” Literally, there was a fox holed up in the corner lying in a hollowed out tree stump.

“Emma, meet Stephanie,” Regina pinched Emma’s arm and covered Emma’s rudeness with a tight smile as she nodded toward her roommate.

Stephanie yawned at them and went back to sleep looking entirely unimpressed.

“Oh my God, Emma, that is, like, so rude. For someone who is supposed to be from a kingdom known for their animal equality and rights initiatives, you sure act like you’ve never hung out with anything besides a flipping blue bird.”

“Hey! I have tons of forest creature friends. Who do you think does my hair?”

Stephanie opened her eyes and glared at Emma, and then signed something in an angry manner, her black paws flying at Regina.

“I agree, Stephanie,” Regina replied and rolled her eyes.

“What’d the fox say?” Emma demanded.

“You won’t like it.”

“Tell me, come on.”

“She said, ’Oh, hell no, she did not just say that.’ I don’t think she takes kindly to the fact that you denounced her to a position of service, when her family is far above yours in lineage and station…probably intelligence too.”

“I didn’t mean--,” Emma sighed in exasperation. “So why doesn’t she just tell me that to my face?”

“Foxes are mute, you idiot. Perhaps you should learn Fox sign so you can properly communicate. That seems to be the root of many of your problems.”

“What?”

“Communication.”

Emma pouted and changed the subject, “Speaking of communication, my stomach is communicating that it wants tacos. Do you like tacos Regina?”

“Come on, let’s go,” Regina took Emma’s hand as if she was leading a small child and gave an apologetic look to her roommate as she escorted Emma from the room.

The spark that surged through Emma caused her to shut up and stop worrying about dinner. She could only focus on the magic that flowed between them. Her eyes glazed over lightly and she allowed Regina to lead her downstairs and out the door.

“Where are we going?” Emma asked, realizing that Regina was leading her away from the cafeteria and toward the shadows at the edge of campus.

Mal, Ursula and Carolyn were waiting by the tree line.

“Oh, so no tacos?” Emma couldn’t help the severe disappointment that she was going to miss dinner. She was certain she wouldn’t miss the looks and murmurs that she would undoubtedly get from the other girls when she showed up dressed like a prince. Though she found the style gave her confidence.

The sun sank further in the sky, as they began to silently walk into the forest. The overgrowth was thick, but Emma was grateful for the boots she was wearing that helped her step easily over the nettles and twigs. Regina walked slightly in front of her and things were starting to feel weird.

At some point, their hands had parted, Emma thought it was right when Regina spotted her friends, and she toyed with the idea of reaching out and placing her palm on Regina’s shoulder. She could totally use the rough underbrush as an excuse, but she chickened out over and over again. Things started to feel different. It was like the dark was reaching in and messing with her.

She couldn’t figure out exactly how big the Floating City was, and there were so many strange sounding creatures baying and echoing through the woods. The trees seemed to shrink and then grow taller and taller until the tops extended into the clouds.

“What’s going on here?” Emma asked the group as she followed along, suddenly her feet felt like she was walking through thick mud. It grew so dark she couldn’t see anything, not even the outline of Regina in front of her.

“This is the Mondegreen Woods. Things change,” Regina turned in the thick blackness and replied mysteriously.

“Nothing makes sense,” Emma said, and then her mind twisted her words and they resounded over and over in her head until she wondered if she had actually said, ‘the nothing is dense.”

As they reached a clearing the wind picked up and rattled the leaves on the trees and snow suddenly started falling from the sky. Emma wrapped her arms around herself as her teeth chattered. The group had to slow down against the whipping wind.

“Why is it snowing?” Carolyn’s voice called out from the front of the group.

“Because it’s true love,” Maleficent laughed, her words sounded like a punchline.

“Are you making a joke about my parents?” Emma would have cared more if she wasn’t so damned cold. Just as soon as the cold had started it ended and within one step she was hit with a tropical humid temperature. The change was jarring.

As they walked a bit further into the heat, Emma decided to stop asking questions altogether.

“Cold by land,” Regina said, and Emma nodded but didn’t comprehend.

Regina reached her hand back and Emma took it like a lifeline; she finally got it. If she didn’t listen, but just felt she could hear what was really said.

As soon as they touched she felt connected and safe, and despite nothing making sense around them, she knew that everything just felt right, and she focused on that feeling of comfort.

The group seemed to be walking downhill through a jungle one minute, and then Emma felt it get considerably harder to breathe. The humidity lifted and where the air had felt thick and cloying, it was suddenly thin like she was at a high altitude. She realized she was climbing. There was no more wind, but the steepness of the path had increased tenfold. She caught Regina through a stumble. But when she spoke her mouth twisted, “Careful,” came out as “I dare you.”

Regina responded with something Emma thought sounded like, “Macaroni.”

“Don’t they?” Emma’s voice pounded in her head. She couldn’t breathe, a pressure sat on her chest, despite holding tightly to Regina’s hand.

As if the landscape was melting in front of her, the dark shifted and suddenly they were in broad daylight. Sand whipped into Emma’s face as she squinted in pain, and saw the surrounding desert landscape. It looked impassable. The other women covered their faces against the wind and loose sand.

“How the hell?” Emma screamed above the roar, but Regina just shook her head and kept walking.

“It will pass,” Regina seemed to say, although it could have been, “it won’t last.”

She didn’t sound very sure of that, but Emma trusted her. She felt the secure bond of the ebb and flow of their magic swell through their fingers, and she held onto that feeling. She couldn’t tell if a lifetime had passed or five minutes. Time was immeasurable in these cursed ‘woods.’

Finally, after making it through a wet bog, and over another mountain, they suddenly emerged from the woods onto a beach and everything changed back to normal.

Regina dropped Emma’s hand.

Emma looked up at the beautiful night sky. It was her very first evening on the island, and also her first night away from home. The view was so different from her view from her balcony at home.

“Now ladies, you all have your assignments, let’s see your tricks,” Mal raised her hands and smirked coldly. The sand at her feet roared to life and formed a miniature cyclone that Maleficent could conduct with her fingers. She sent her dust cloud dancing up and down the beach, as the ladies clapped in enjoyment.

Next, Regina walked with determination into the center of the circle and balled up her fists. She opened one and concentrated on her hand. Her fist trembled and she held her breath until a small flame appeared in the palm of her hand. Everyone ‘oohed’ her magical display, and as her confidence grew so did the fire until it turned into an inferno of a ball.

Emma could feel the heat coming off of it from across the beach; she was amazed that Regina wasn’t affected. Without warning, Regina launched the fireball into the water where it extinguished with a sizzle as it hit the cold.

Silently, Maleficent nodded to Ursula who cleared her throat and cast out her arms and tentacles toward the water, pulling a big tidal wave up only to have it crash down on the beach and splash the girls with a huge wall of water.

All eyes turned to Emma, and she licked her lips out of nervousness. “What? I can’t do any of that…I don’t even know how to use magic.”


	9. Shiver, Shout & Run About

Regina looked at her hands; she’d never made a fireball so big before. Her teacher would be proud if he were here. Maybe not proud, she thought, he didn’t really ever show pride in her accomplishments.

It only ever seemed like he wanted her to do more and more. And each benchmark she achieved was never enough, no matter. She imagined one day she’d be the most powerful sorceresses in all the realms and there would be her sooty little teacher mocking her. Always telling her she wasn’t and never would be good enough.

She shook her head to clear it and stepped forward through the sand to bring herself to Emma’s side. She was so curious to see Emma’s natural raw ability for magic it made her breathless.

“I’ll help you,” Regina held her hands up in front of Emma like she wanted to give her a high five, Emma slapped her palm against hers, causing Regina to go wide eyed in confusion. “What was that?”

“What? Oh…” Emma said as she bit her lip and even in the pale moonlight, Regina could see the rise of a blush on her cheeks. As obnoxious and innocent as Swan was; she looked adorable when she was confused.

“We’re not practicing patty cake and nursery rhymes, we’re doing serious magic,” Regina explained, she stood up straight and rolled up the sleeves of her gown to show she meant business.

Emma seemed the type of girl who didn’t follow through on things. Regina had been taught to be precise in words, gestures and actions, Emma seemed a bit unrefined and fuzzy in her opinion. She couldn’t say it was entirely unappealing.

“Regina, maybe the girl isn’t ready for what you call ‘serious magic’,” Ursula said as she headed for the ocean to dip her tentacles in.

“Maybe we should all sit down and have a little girl talk, hmm?” Carolyn asked as she and Maleficent headed over to a nice clear spot on the beach.

“Regina, I’m chilly after that walk through the forest, how about a fireball to get a fire going?” Mally asked with a raise of her eyebrows.

“Coming,” Regina huffed in annoyance, she was eager to see what Emma could do, but if her friends didn’t think she was ready then perhaps she needed a bit more time to warm up.

Maleficent pushed some sticks from the top of the beach into the middle of their newly formed circle and Regina made a nice sized fireball. She proudly shot it at the sticks with perfect accuracy. They lit immediately, and burned in rainbow colors instead of the usual orange of a normal fire.

Regina took a seat and patted the sand next to her for Emma to come sit. They both crossed their legs and stared into the fire. She could see Emma’s confusion about the colored logs. She explained, “It’s wood from the Mondegreen, never does anything predictable.”

Emma looked nervous so Regina reached for her hand, subtly pulling it under her long black skirt to hide their joined fingers from the prying eyes of her judgy friends. Ursula came up from the water behind them, wringing out her tentacles and dripping water everywhere.

“So uh, you ladies have any true loves back home?” Emma asked, clearly uncomfortable. Regina smirked and squeezed her hand tighter. She was pleased that Emma didn’t let go. It felt so nice to be on the beach, at night. At home, it wasn’t safe for her to go out without guards or her mother in tow.

Regina couldn’t believe her mother had allowed her to come, but she knew it was only allowed because it was a political move to take advantage of the law that allowed newly acquired kingdoms to participate.

“Regina has her imaginary boyfriend, Daniel,” Mally called her out.

“Shut up, Mally! You act like a hussy in human and dragon form,” Regina was irate. Mal knew that Daniel wasn’t her boyfriend. He was just her friend. Except her mother had made sure Regina couldn’t visit him or her father, not as long as the curse was in place.

“How about you, Emma? Surely, you’ve had balls to get acquainted with white toothed princes,” Carolyn said in a voice that made Regina shiver on Emma’s behalf.

“Um, no one special….” Emma replied, she looked down, and then she surprised Regina by looking at her and asking, “So who is this Daniel guy?”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it,” Ursula stepped in to Regina’s relief. The last thing she wanted to explain was how her mother had cursed her so she couldn’t dream, preventing her from meeting Daniel in his realm.

Maleficent stirred the fire with her magic; her eyes glowed in reflection of the flame.

“You wouldn’t even know what to do with a prince, even if he was your one true love, if you had him, Ursula.”

Ursula wiggled her tentacles and one slithered by Emma’s leg, Regina felt her flinch and move closer. The warmth of her body wasn’t entirely unwelcome; in fact, Regina hoped Ursula was slithering it again so Emma would press against her. She tried to push the thought out of her mind.

“Regina, show us that parchment you were talking about. I know you have it,” Carolyn asked.

“Like it would matter, you can’t see it anyways,” Regina felt her cheeks color. For some reason she didn’t want to talk about this topic in front of Emma. She seemed so good and so innocent, and if she knew where Regina came from she would get the wrong idea about her.

When her mother had marched on Wonderland and overtook it as her own, it was renamed to the Shadow Kingdom for a reason. It was a place of sin: gambling houses and brothels.

Regina wasn’t proud to be from such a place. Most of the population was made up of seedy individuals. Dark magic ran rampant. Crime rates were high and most of the kingdoms’ revenue came from taxes on the travelers who liked to spend their holiday engaging in shameful practices. Everything was cheap in the Shadow Kingdom, but the prices were still high. Though Regina had never visited The Light Kingdom she had heard stories that it was the complete opposite to her land.

“Yeah, Regina, show us that flier you told us about the ‘Amor Mejor’” Ursula used one of her tentacles to pick Regina’s bag off of her shoulder.

“Hey! That’s private,” Regina yelled as she let go of Emma’s hand to reach for it. Emma jumped to her feet and wrapped both hands around the slippery tentacle that held the leather satchel, but Ursula simply flicked the end of it and threw the bag to another one. Mally undid the buckles and rooted around in Regina’s stuff until she found the folded parchment.

Flexing her palms, Regina felt her breathing rate increase in anger. She hated when her friends disrespected her belongings. To her surprise she felt Emma uncoiling her balled fist and wrapping her warm hand around hers. She found it calming. She swallowed when Emma looked up into her eyes.

“Whoa!” Mally had unraveled the paper and was scanning it hungrily. “Where did you get this?”

Carolyn touched the page, her milky white eyes flitting and twitching as she let out a low whistle, “Love Best indeed!”

“How can she see?” Emma whispered.

Regina shrugged and replied coolly, “That’s what magic can do, dear.”

“Magic can heal and blow stuff up?” Emma asked in fascination.

She didn’t get a chance to reply as Mal was passing the old battered scroll: a menu of sexual positions from the rojo district of the Shadow kingdom to Ursula.

“Ooh, this hot. That goat that Pan is copulating with seems to be enjoying itself,” she laughed and tossed back her head.

“That’s just the logo for the brothel,” Regina lunged over Emma’s lap and grabbed the paper.

“Where did you get that? Did Cora give it to you to help loosen you up a bit?”

“Ha, I wouldn’t be surprised. I can totally see your mom doing that. Here Regina you study this and learn how to fuck,” Carolyn said holding up her long fingers and making some rather obscene gestures.

“Don’t talk about my mom like that! She didn’t give it to me. I found that when I was on a carriage ride. We stopped to stretch our legs and that scroll was in the street,” Regina felt her temper flaring as she told the story. “I picked up not knowing what it was. I shouldn’t have kept it, and I definitely shouldn’t have told you horny bitches about it.”

She looked at the neon green fire and was half tempted to throw the paper in.

“Don’t burn it!” Mal yelled as she lifted her hands in surrender. “At least not until you show Swan.”

With reluctance, Regina calmed down and passed the parchment silently to Emma. “I don’t need to see it, if you don’t want me to look at it.”

“Come on, Swan, how are you gonna know what to do to your true love when you find him. I hear you have to try some positions out to even know if he’s really the one.”

“Please, everyone knows a princess doesn’t have sex until her wedding night,” Emma rolled her eyes in embarrassment at even saying the word.

“Aw, you’re so very, very innocent,” Carolyn laughed at her.

Regina shivered and felt something strange and warm flare up inside her at the thought of Emma on her wedding night. She did look innocent, and something about the way she was trying to hide her curiosity about the parchment made Regina want her to look at it all the more. “You can look at it.”

Regina handed the paper over to Emma with an encouraging nod. The beach went quiet except for the crackling luminescent fire as the other girls watched Emma look. Her face scrunched up, she turned the paper sideways.

Her face went red and she asked distractedly, “How does the woman hold herself up with her legs hooked over the man’s shoulders?”

“Takes a lot of strength, undoubtedly,” Mally asked her voice dripping with a perverted sounding sheen.

“You could do it. You have very strong muscles…for a princess,” Regina said with a bit of breathiness that she didn’t mean to have in her voice.

“I can’t believe…people actually do this together? My mom would call this porn…I shouldn’t be looking.”

The other girls laughed heartily when Emma stated she shouldn’t be looking, but made no move to put the menu of sexual positions down or even try to look away. Her voice was nothing but a murmur; she seemed entranced by the twelve different positions shown on the menu.

Each one lined up to a sign of the zodiac, and the one of taking the maiden on all fours from behind was the one that corresponded to Regina’s sign. She had studied the different positions, fantasized about trying certain ones.

“I think you should give us a demonstration, for Emma’s benefit, naturally,” Maleficent stated in a high pinched tone.

“Which one do you like?” Regina asked as she moved her face close to Emma’s. Her heart seemed to beat harder as they looked at the different positions together.

“Oh, no… I can’t do that,” Emma was trying to scramble away, her chest was moving up and down at a rapid rate and the waves of discomfort, arousal and magic were hitting Regina and making her feel a bit lightheaded.

“It’s just practice. Who knows? It might be fun,” Regina put her hands carefully on Emma’s shoulders, and shifted onto her knees to come in front of her. She gave her plenty of chance to stop it, but to her delight, Emma braced her hands behind her and sat back.

“How about this?” Regina slid over onto Emma’s lap, her knees on either side of Emma’s lap.

The other girls were shouting and whooping behind her. Emma was staring down, and at first Regina thought she was shy and couldn’t make eye contact, but as her gaze drifted, she followed Emma’s gaze to Regina’s breasts. Her dress has pulled down a bit and her cleavage was pushed up and on display.

Regina sighed and surged forward, wrapping her arms around Emma’s neck. She chuckled as she purposefully pushed her breasts up into Emma’s face and shook her chest back and forth.

She felt Emma’s muffled scream against her breasts and the vibration sent a strong jolt of pleasure rushing through her and down to her core. She was caught off guard when a huge burst of light shot forth out of Emma’s hands.

Emma screamed even as her hands glowed blinding white. Regina reacted as quickly as she could. She grabbed Emma’s wrists and pushed her down onto her back in the sand, point her out of control hands toward the sky. The surge of magic flew through Regina and she gasped for breath.

She felt lightheaded and dizzy. Her head was pounding and her body was throbbing with an unidentified sensation. She followed the magic as it hit the sky and coursed outward in a glimmering shimmer of sparkling points dissipating into the ether.

When she got control her breath and realized Ursula was dragging her off of Emma by wrapping her tentacles around waist and arms, she looked down and Emma’s eyes were closed and her body was limp.

“Shit, we gotta get out of here!” Carolyn shouted.

“Is Swan okay?” Mal asked leaning over her and kicking her lightly with the polished tip of her boot.

“She’s breathing…just unconscious,” Ursula snaked a tentacle out to check her pulse, and the weak breath coming from her mouth.

“I need…let me…” Regina was trying to get to her, but she felt like she was running through mud.

“We’re gonna have to carry Regina and Emma back…just dump them in the dorms,” Carolyn said and it was the last thing Regina heard before everything went black and the overpowering feeling of emptiness filled her.


	10. Running Through a Coral Castle Wall

Everything was dark, and Emma found herself waking up feeling euphoric yet drained of energy. She didn’t know where she was. Everything was quiet, but when she concentrated she could hear a faint voice in the distance. She knew she wasn’t in her physical body, no, she was someplace else…in her mind, but also in a distinct space.

She was dreaming. She listened closely and the voice was calling out, “Daddy? Daddy, oh father, where are you?”

She recognized it, it was Regina. Emma blindly fumbled down a long tunnel. She wasn’t really walking, and she could see all around into the stretch of darkness as if she wasn’t limited to what her eyes could perceive. She could sense Regina, she felt close. Her heady brand of magic infiltrated all of Emma’s being as she ventured farther down the tunnel in this strange dreamscape.

She saw a pinpoint of light and as she half floated and half stumbled closer the light grew. She tried to will the light bigger and discovered she had changed the distance with her thoughts.

Although, she should have been frightened of the unknown, Regina’s energy provided a calming sensation. Emma felt safe and cozy even as she stepped through the portal of light.

Silhouetted in shadow, there was Regina and another figure, an aged man. They were embracing one another. He was whispering to Regina and stroking her hair. Emma gave them privacy, but she watched the scene playing out before her with wonder. The man must be Regina’s father. What were they doing here?

Emma couldn’t see her body, she knew she had one, but when she tried to hold out her arms it was as if they were clear. The thought that she had died during the magic events crossed her mind, but the calm permeated and healed her. She didn’t feel dead. If she were dead she wouldn’t feel at all she reasoned.

“Emma?” Regina had noticed her, and when Regina called her name, Emma felt her body manifest as if she had just been created into the shape that she knew as her own.

“Emma, meet my father, Henry,” Regina sounded joyous and overcome with feelings. “Daddy, this is Princess Emma of the light kingdom…I think she is the reason I was able to finally break mother’s spell and venture to the dream realm.”

“Princess Emma, my pleasure,” Henry greeted her. Emma curtsied out of habit, and then felt embarrassed like the formal ritual wasn’t appropriate in this land.

Regina came to stand by her and look her over. She frowned in concern, “Emma, you need to imagine your body. It’s like you’re only half here.”

“What is this place?” Emma asked and reached for Regina’s hand. As she did so her body sharpened as if the details were coming into focus.

“Welcome to the dream realm,” Henry said with a pessimistic tone.

“My mother banished my father here as a punishment,” Regina explained sadly. She held Emma’s hand tighter and they both looked down as magic began to bloom between them. “She made it so I couldn’t dream anymore, so I couldn’t visit father…or Daniel, but I think you broke her curse over me.”

Emma turned that information over, and tried to make sense of it, but her feelings were stronger here, and especially with Regina now leaning softly against her side. It felt like they were melding into one being. The power of light and darkness turned their shadowy skin silver.

It was overwhelming and Emma felt herself sliding back down the tunnel, pulling away, as she struggled to wake up for real.

“No! Emma come back… damn it!” She heard Regina calling for her in earnest.

Emma opened her eyes sunlight streamed through the windows of her dorm room. She felt heavy and too hot. Her head was pounding painfully and her mouth was completely dry. She tried to turn her head and found that every muscle ached.

A breathy gasp startled her, and she found Regina lying next to her. They were still holding hands and Regina was pressed securely against her side. A new set of feelings roared up in her, the heat she felt tripled and her body ached and pulsed in a new way when Regina moaned deep in the back of her throat.

“Oh good god of the garden, Emma,” Regina opened her eyes and turned her head to peer at her through a haze of sleep. She lifted her hand to her forehead and paused to gather her thoughts.

“I’m sorry…” Emma started to apologize. She didn’t remember how they ended up in bed together, but she felt the wild sting of inappropriateness and panic, especially when she lifted the covers to find she was only wearing her undergarments. She couldn’t help but notice Regina’s black lace corset that pressed her breasts up with every draw of breath. “I need to get up now…”

“Wait!” Regina lifted her torso and pinned Emma beneath her, the action caused Emma to breathe harder and the blood to rush into her ears. She wasn’t sure why she was so scared, no, that wasn’t the right feeling. Her whole body felt overly sensitive and every nerve ending tingled like it was blazing hot. Regina needed to stop touching her in this bed.

She had to get out of it.

“I need to get up,” Emma repeated through the sheer haze of strange sensations that had overtaken her. She was never playing with magic again.

“I met with father! Emma, you brought me to the dream realm,” Regina was smiling, her eyes were shining and she was staring in wonder at Emma in a way that made her toes curl.

“So we were really there together? And that man was really your father?” Emma tried to ask some questions to get a hold on her emotions. It was like she was truly woken up in every sense of the word for the first time.

Regina closed her eyes and then nestled her face against Emma’s neck, nuzzling her as she squeezed her sides into a hug. Emma was sure her heart was beating out of her chest, and when Regina let out a little breath it tickled the skin of Emma’s neck. Her eyes almost rolled back in her head from the bliss of it. She’d never embraced someone like this except for her mother and father, and a few of her nanny’s but it had been a long time since she’d felt any sort of emotional connection or intimacy with anyone. And her parents had certainly never made her feel like this. Loved yes, but this sensation was entirely new and wonderfully frightening. Emma tried to focus as Regina was speaking as she kept her face pressed closely on Emma.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I would dream of a boy named Daniel. We would play in the dream realm and we grew quite close. As time went on, Daniel asked me to stay with him. He can’t leave the realm of dreams as he is the King, unless he bequeaths the throne to someone of royal blood. He asked me to marry him and help him to rule the dream realm. My mother found out about our engagement. She was furious. She wants me to be queen, but the dream realm doesn’t have enough power in her opinion.”

“What did your mother do?” Emma asked as she listened intently. She found she had begun to stroke Regina’s back slowly, it seemed to calm her and it felt really nice to touch her so freely.

“First, I rebelled…I told her I’d rather live in an imaginary realm than with her in the Shadow Kingdom. My father was going to help me run away to be with Daniel and to a place Mother couldn’t find me.”

“But she found out…”

“And banished my father to the dream realm permanently, and then put a spell on me so that I can no longer dream at all.”

“But you dreamed…”

“With you, yes, Emma…our magic must have broken my mother’s spell. I’m so relieved that father is okay. He was sick before she banished him.”

“We have to dream again, you must sleep with me and let me dream. I have to find Daniel.”

Emma didn’t think that was a good idea. She already felt overwhelmingly guilty about using magic she had no control over. Plus, opening a dream hole was way too much to deal with, even if it meant Regina got to visit with her dad. She couldn’t imagine her own mother locking her father up in a metaphysical prison, but in that regard she sympathized with her new friend.

She wasn’t sure about this Daniel, Regina was prattling on about, but Emma didn’t particularly want to meet the King of Dreams. She figured she’d totally feel like a third wheel. Regina was still looking at her so hopeful with those big chocolate eyes and holding onto her so warm and sweetly, it was definitely hard to say ‘no.’

Emma was finding that sharing a bed with Regina was both a blessing and a curse; just the same way she was starting to feel about all this magic.

Regina sniffed and rubbed her eyes, beside her and then pulled away and left the bed. “Emma, for a princess and daughter of the fabled Snow White, one would think you’d be a bit more refined.” Regina started picking stuff up off the floor and arranging Emma’s room. How Emma’s room got so messy when she had just arrived was a mystery, but at home she always had servants to pick up after her.

“One would think this was the Hog princesses sty, not the famed princess of the Light kingdom.”

“I just got here, and it was a rough night,” Emma groaned, pulling the pillow over her face to avoid looking at Regina in her very tight black lace. Her head was pounding from the after effects of the magic and the last thing she wanted to do was get up and clean her room.

“Where are the facilities located on this floor? I need a shower,” Regina asked primly, snagging one of Emma’s towels from inside her closet door.

“Uh, down the hall,” Emma finally forced herself to sit up, and realized she was in desperate need of a shower as well. Her hair was all gunky and limp, and she smelled like forest. She made haste when she realized she also smelled like Regina’s perfume, and though it was a nice reminder of their night together, she also didn’t want to torture herself by smelling like that all day.

As she grabbed another towel and followed Regina out the door, she vowed that she could not get high on magic and pass out with Regina on top of her and enter the shifting dream realm ever again. She just had to stay strong. As she peeled off her underwear, she realized her legs were stained black from the leather she had been wearing.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself on why she had come to Princess School in the first place. Aside from it practically being mandatory, she was there to focus on her academics and life skills so she could please her parents’ and find her true love.

She reminded herself of that fact again when she heard Regina crank the water on in the shower one stall over from hers in the shared dorm bathroom. Emma stepped in and turned the facet; the warm water soaked her hair and she started to soap herself up. She was not going to think about Regina, so close yet so far, soaking wet and naked. No, Emma turned the facet the other direction and shrieked and shivered when the water suddenly turned icy cold. That was better. Much better. It was so much easier to focus on washing the enticing smell of the brunette off of her when her lips were turning blue.

Emma got lost in her thoughts and wondered what activities were planned for the day. She knew for certain she was definitely going to see more of Regina as her academic partner. The thought both thrilled and troubled Emma. She shouldn’t be so obsessed with Regina or magic. Could it be that just one night of binge magic and Emma was already addicted? Why did her academic partner have to be her enemy and also so damned pretty? Most importantly, what on earth was she going to wear?

When Emma exited the shower, Regina had already dressed and left. Emma sighed and pulled out one of her gowns. She struggled into her corset and undergarments. Today she wore pink. As she breezed down the hall on a whim she stopped by the lounge and curiously found that another chess piece had been moved. She tapped her chin and smiled. She moved out another pawn directly across from her opponent.

Emma found she was starving from missing dinner the night before. She ducked into the cafeteria, but Regina wasn’t there. It was mostly the stragglers and slow moving princesses that kindly ignored Emma. There was fruit and some sort of live insect medley, that didn’t look fit for human consumption.

She made a mental note to stop being late for meals.


	11. Take My Hand and Dance With Me

Barry the fairy was gazing out at an audience of bored looking ladies from the middle of the ballroom. “Ladies, look alive! We’re scouting potential true love princes not picking through rotten fruit!”

Regina stood up straighter and smoothed the front of her gown, from the corner of her eye she saw Emma staring at her. She pursed her lips and tasted lipstick, as she watched Barry call two princesses out to the dance floor.

“We’re going to waltz and waltzing is what I want to see!” Barry shrieked intensely as the two girls awkwardly fumbled and shuffled around in their cumbersome ball gowns. “Whisk her! Damn it! Whisk her!”

“Are we trying to mix up cake batter or are we dancing?” Mal smirked and commented to Regina. She cleared her throat and stepped away from the distraction. Truthfully, Regina was nervous. She hadn’t had much practice with dancing and balls as her days as a princess in the shadow kingdom were relatively new. Mother had never allowed her to come to any of the balls that had been held and the whole pageantry of it left her nauseated.

The music died off and the two girls instantly stepped apart, relief evident on their faces.

“Who’s next?” Barry bellowed and scanned the wall of princesses. “Aw, Princess Emma, I know you must have some experience with ball room dancing. Who is your partner?”

Regina’s nerves increased and she tried to appear small and disinterested, until she heard Emma speak up. “Sure, yes…I’ve been to a few balls. Uh, Princess Regina is my partner.”

Barry sashayed across the room, zeroing in on Regina instantly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out onto the floor. “Alright, let’s move! Emma, I trust you’re comfortable taking on the role of the prince in this one?”

Emma stepped forward as Barry literally pushed the two women together. Emma smiled and Regina drew in a shaky breath. “Free lesson, girls, princes respond to confident women. I don’t want to see this little coy routine you’ve got going on here. It’s a partner dance, so Emma you’ve got to touch your partner.”

Emma nodded and stepped closer. Regina searched her eyes, recognizing the tension and strangeness in rolling off of both of them in waves. “Okay, I’m just gonna put my hand on your—.”

Barry extended his arms and clapped both of them on the back at once pushing them flush together, “Dance!”

The music began soft and slow, and Emma winced as she reached out for Regina’s waist, finding her palms were unnaturally sweaty. Barry started calling out time as Regina took her hand, and their billowing skirts swished and rustled against one another: Emma in pink and Regina in black.

They began to move in time, looking anywhere but in each other’s eyes. Regina was confused as to why Emma wasn’t looking at her. She whispered, “Is something wrong?”

“Hmm, no, nothing,” Emma replied all too quickly, and Regina felt the bite of the other woman’s nails pinch her waist.

“Now, ladies you’re trying to woo your true love here! I’m not feeling it. Make some eyes, dance lighter…it’s all the in breath. You two look like you’re dancing through the swampy bogs of Dornoko, get it together!”

“What does that mean?” Emma asked wrinkling her nose, and Regina smiled despite her nerves.

“I think it means we both need to relax, but I’ve never danced like this before,” Regina admitted and looked up to gauge Emma’s reaction.

“You mean you’ve never had a ball?” Emma seemed like she couldn’t believe it.

“No, mother forbid my attendance to the only ball my kingdom has thrown,” Regina felt Emma pull her closer, her demeanor seemed to change.

Emma nodded and seemed lost in thought for a moment, before her expression softened and she wrapped her hand farther around Regina’s waist pulling her closer. “I’ve got this just follow me.”

And Regina’s eyes widened as she felt herself practically carried over the floor, her feet were floating and she felt lighter and merrier than ever before as Emma picked up the pace. Before they were two separate entities stumbling along like they had blocks for feet, whereas now they were graceful and lithe, moving as one through the space.

Regina laughed as Emma full on whisked her around and out into a full spin. Then before she had a chance to think she was being pulled back in and held in Emma’s embrace, her back arched back as Emma tipped her and grinned cheekily down at her. Her breath caught in her throat when Emma winked at her before throwing her up and pulling her around and around in a dizzying and exhilarating combo.

Barry had stopped yelling directions like, “Sparkle!”

The low hum of small talk that could be indistinctly heard over the swell of the music died out. In the moment that they were dancing all Regina could do was hold on for the ride. She was truly feeling Emma’s rhythm, her body sure and solid, as she moved against and in time with her. It was as easy as breathing to let herself get carried away -literally.

In the blink of an eye, she was still, pressed against Emma, and eye to eye. The world seemed to close off and all that existed was the beautiful woman holding her close. Regina stared in wonder into shining green eyes. She looked slightly cocky and a wholly wonderful. Then Emma’s gaze shifted to Regina’s lips. She wet them with her tongue in want and leaned in automatically. She wasn’t thinking rationally, she was just feeling. This is what it should be and she had to know what if?

What if?....

“Cut!” Barry yelled so close and loud that both women jumped back from each other, their dance trance broken by the interruption. Regina couldn’t control the tingling in her legs and hands. Her breathing was erratic. Perhaps she’d overdone it with the dancing, or perhaps Emma just had that effect on her.

“Excellent job, my dears! That’s how you take instruction. Let that be a lesson to all you all: didn’t they just look like they were in love?” Barry seemed very pleased. “Round of applause for Princesses Emma and Regina.”

The other girls applauded half-heartedly and Regina grew self-conscious again as she tried to get her mind back to the present and out of the delicious moment that she had just partaken in.

She couldn’t avoid Mal when she rejoined the other princesses, “Damn, girl, you looked like you wanted to true love kiss the blonde right out of her hair just now.”

“Shut up,” Regina scolded, and turned away to hide the red flush creeping up her cheeks. She felt overly warm, like she’d been sitting to close to a fire. “I did not. It was just one dance.”

Regina wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or her friend.

“Yeah, you two were dancing for like 30 minutes, I thought you were never going to stop. At least you impressed Fairy Barry, brown nose.”

30 minutes? Regina’s head was reeling. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. Did Emma really make time stop in her head?

“Okay, ladies if you have time to practice in your study hours please do. I’m sorry we didn’t get to all of you today, but rest assured we will have more dancing lessons very soon- you all need them,” Barry concluded the class and the princesses were off to study hour which meant even more one on one time with Emma.


	12. It’s Voodoo You Do

Emma overheard Mal’s comment to Regina about true love’s kiss. She had walked to the side of the room in a daze and watched as inconspicuously as possible. The other girls were congratulating her on her dance skills, but she cared less about impressing her peers. Her mind was only on the tense, exciting dance she’d shared with her partner.

She waited with baited breath for Regina’s reaction, but when her features turned hard and she turned away from Mally, Emma’s hope dropped.

….

She was in a study room, and she was supposed to be composing a letter to send her parents to let them know how wonderful her experience at Princess School was going. She crumpled another parchment and tossed it into the trash on the side of the room.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Charm school is awesome! My roommate is a wolf who’s never around. I’m aiding and abetting a rat princess and her brood of bastard babies. I tried magic (twice) and loved it! I have a hopeless crush on our kingdom’s only enemy and I want to kiss the living daylights out of her. Yes, her. Every minute that goes by I care less and less about finding a prince and turns out I’m really unprepared and terrible at all social and cultural interaction. Things are peachy keen._

_Lots of love,_

_Emma_

She crumpled up the paper, shaking her head and fighting back tears. She tried again.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I miss you both so much, but I’m having so much fun at school. This is truly an experience I’ll never forget. I’m learning so much, and of course, I’m the best ball room dancer. Well, I have to go and study for my politics of the realms test._

_Love,_

_Emma_

That attempt sounded better. It sounded right, even though it was a false depiction. She only wrote it because she knew it would set her parents’ minds at ease. She had to play her part and do her duty. Which, she knew she’d fail this politics of the realm quiz if she didn’t study.

The royal carrier pigeon rolled his eyes at her when she finally rolled up the scroll and motioned him over to attach it to his foot with a ribbon. He bowed to her and took off to deliver her letter.

She watched as all the other royal postal birds took off with the other princess’s letters in a flock and disappeared over the barrier that protected the floating city from view. She rested her head on her hands and stared down lost in thought. She really needed to study for the test. Emma knew next to nothing about inter realm politics: truces and treaties.

She turned at the sound of the door opening and closing swiftly. Regina entered looking flustered.

“Hey,” Emma greeted her quietly. She felt embarrassed and awkward in the other girl’s presence. The dance had awakened something in Emma, but she knew Regina didn’t feel the same way.

“Hi, Emma…” Regina smiled tightly and clasped her hands together in front of her. She looked over the crumpled parchments and texts spread out on the table. “Are you studying for the test?”

“I should be,” Emma responded and moved to sit down at the table, fussing with her skirts. She felt restless like she needed to say something, but couldn’t find the words to express her feelings.

Moving quickly to her side, Regina sat down next to her and picked up the study guide. “You probably know all this boring political stuff anyway, right?”

Emma didn’t really hear her, she felt their skirts brush together under the table and a swirl of energy rushed through her veins. She swallowed back a gasp, and then found she was transfixed by Regina’s stupidly gorgeous face concentrating on the boring study guide.

“I don’t know anything,” Emma replied long after Regina had asked.

“It’s embarrassing to read this…I hate how my mother took over power of the realm formerly known as Wonderland. Did you know that there’s even a debate about my Princess Hood? Zelena and I were only able to come to Princess School because they just passed the law to let non royal blood princesses in.”

“You’re not born of royal blood?” Emma asked blinking and wide eyed, in disbelief that Regina was what her mother would consider not a true Princess.

Regina rolled her eyes, “I didn’t think that would be a surprise to you. Considering the debate regarding your lineage with your father, Charming.”

“What about my dad?”

It was Regina’s turn to look shocked, “its common knowledge.” Regina pointed to the study guide showing the family tree of the Light kingdom. “That he only gained the throne because of your mother. Charming was born to an agricultural family.”

“What?” Emma was confused, she had never questioned that she was a full blooded Princess. Something deep inside her clicked, she had never questioned it, but she had never felt right being a Princess either. It was all she knew.

“I’m sorry,” Regina closed her eyes and set the paper down, pushing it aside. “I thought you knew.”

Emma brushed it off, and automatically placed her hand over Regina’s, hating that she had just made things awkward again. Her heart skipped a beat when Regina turned that intense focus solely on Emma.

“Let’s talk about something else,” Regina averted her gaze, and then quickly drew it back to Emma giving her a questioning look.

“I’m not…I’m not really informed about politics.”

“Aww, but you’re good at dancing. Any prospects for finding a prince?” Regina turned her tone light, but didn’t sound convincing or sincere. “My magic teacher has a son, who is said to be quite interested in you.”

“You have a magic teacher?” The more Regina opened up about herself, the more Emma wanted to know.

Regina laughed then, and the sound was sultry and deep. “That’s what you took away from my question. I am asking you about Prince Neal…he’s from a magic kingdom, and son of the Dark One…Are your parent’s opposed to you marrying someone from a realm with magic?”

“Uh yeah,” Emma answered feeling dumbstruck. Again, she was so ignorant to all of this, and was increasingly realizing she was the butt of some joke. Everyone else seemed to know everything about her family and her, but she didn’t even know herself.


	13. There is Fire in the Air

“I don’t think they’d take to kindly on the Dark One’s son courting me, prince or no,” Emma tried to manage a chuckle at the thought.

Regina just looked downtrodden. “Have you ever felt like you might have met anyone who you thought could be your true love?”

Emma thought back to all the balls and princes she had been introduced to and courted by thus far: shiny white teeth, perfect hair, and strong jawlines. She could scarcely remember their names or kingdoms from where they hailed from.

She shook her head, “I guess I feel like when I meet my true love, I’ll just know.” She looked up to find Regina staring at her with an odd expression on her face.

“How will you know?” Regina whispered. She sounded breathless and she leaned forward into Emma’s space.

“My mom said she just knew, so I suspect it will be the same for me,” Emma matched Regina’s quiet tone. The subject matter was too deep and personal. Emma wasn’t the best at recognizing or expressing her feelings, but she was trying so hard to ignore the fast beating of her heart and the way she felt hazy around the stunning woman next to her.

Regina nodded, “I suspect you will know him when you meet him. I hope it happens soon for you.”

“You too,” Emma choked out the syllables. She felt like she was lying when she said it. “We should probably um…study.”

Emma looked down at the jumble of parchments and felt like she couldn’t focus. Her hand was still holding Regina’s and there was a pulsing energy emanating between them: a gentle push and pull of what Emma was recognizing as the feeling and effect of magic. It felt good, but something in her mind told her she could feel better.

“Why are we here?” Regina asked rhetorically, “to prepare and practice to find our loves, yes?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what the brochure said,” Emma shrugged even as she felt Regina shift in her seat and squeeze her hand.

“There’s something I want to practice and it’s not studying stupid treaties and obsolete family histories.”

“Oh?” Emma couldn’t breathe, Regina was looking at her through thick dark eyelashes, and her eyes were doing that spectacular shiny thing again. She recognized the look as the same one Ruby had when she saw that Tuesday night dinner was all you can eat steak. Regina looked hungry and curious. Emma felt like the steak.

Her mouth went dry and Emma’s eyes went to Regina’s full red lips. She looked so inviting, and Emma thought perhaps she was giving Regina the same steak eyed look. Regina’s chest was moving up and down a bit faster. She moved her free hand up and drew her fingers against Emma’s cheek. Emma closed her eyes to guard herself against the overwhelming brush of magic and feelings the simple action brought forth in her.

“Can I try something, Princess Emma?” Regina asked hoarsely.

“Okay,” Emma mumbled numbly. She was so caught up and transfixed by Regina slowly leaning in, their knees knocked together, and their skirts rustled keeping them from getting as close as they wanted.

Emma sat and waited impatiently. She was acutely aware of Regina’s hand in hers, and the way the soft sweet wind of her breath ghosted against her cheek. Then her lips were on Emma’s. She pressed with the lightest of pressure.   
Lips on lips.

It was a simple kiss, but the magic transferred easily and instantly and the feeling of something stronger, something binding and unforgiving pulled Emma closer. She felt like she was overflowing. The feeling started in her belly and drew her in again uncontrollably. She vaguely heard the quiet smack of their lips parting, and then coming together again.

It was everything Emma had allowed herself to imagine and everything she had never had the insight to fathom.

Regina made an ‘mmm’ noise that vibrated against her lips and ignited something of a fire in Emma. Then they were clinging to each other, unable to break away finding that instead of each mashing of lips satisfying the craving it caused a greater one.

Emma stood up, pushing the heavy wooden chair out from behind her, and pulling Regina up by the waist, tugging hard unwilling to break their fragile connection. She couldn’t get enough and she pushed Regina against the wall. She registered the hard sound of her back hitting the brick and Regina broke off, drawing in a sharp breath. Emma didn’t stop, she pushed her whole body against her again, winding her fingers in through her silky hair and clawing at her waist possessively.

Regina licked Emma’s bottom lip and pushed her tongue into her mouth, teasing her, Emma sucked gently on her tongue, lost in discovering new sensations. Just like with the dance, the two Princesses lost track of all time, not noticing the growing ball of red and white magic pushing out and growing brighter from their combined energy and feelings.

Emma was so lost in Regina’s mouth and how her body felt against her, she didn’t notice the building bubble of magic that was sucking all of the oxygen out of the room. It was about to pop when Regina pushed Emma away and gaped at the magic hey made. “We have to get out of here!”

Regina grabbed Emma’s hand, she tried and failed to get her bearings and orient herself back to reality. Regina pulled open the door despite the thick heavy mass of magic and pushed Emma through before jumping out into the hallway. They ducked and covered one another as adrenaline raced through their bodies. Then they heard the explosion and felt the heat, saw the bright light of erupting magic.

Even as Regina yelled at Emma to stay down, she jumped up to watch as the door shook. The brightly colored magic burst out. Luckily for Emma, most of the shock wave blew out the open window and shot toward the sky in a fiery, kinetic, dangerous ball.

“What the hell was that?” Emma screamed.

“That was one hell of a kiss!” Regina informed her breathlessly. Her expression was a mix of delight and fear.


	14. Straight to the Heart Please

The more Regina wanted to be around Emma the more she seemed to pull away. She caught herself thinking of the night on the beach, the night in her bed, and the stolen kisses they shared constantly.

The girl had the strongest magic she’d ever encountered, and when Regina and she put their magic together in a touch or a kiss, their magic had magic on top of magic. The wonderful feeling of all consuming power was addictive.

She didn’t see Emma except across the rows of desks in class, or out on the fields during their outdoor lessons. The thing is, Emma didn’t have the best willpower and if Regina was persuasive enough, she could pull Emma away from her lessons for secret make out sessions. The more they kissed and skipped classes together, the more Regina craved her mouth and that special magic.

Emma loved it just as much, but she hated the byproduct of their magic, Regina could tell. She was in her head, and she knew Emma was in hers in a way. She could sense her emotions even when she wasn’t near her, and even if the shared thoughts were foggy and misshapen. Regina convinced her she was taking care of it. She’s throw the excess they made out the window or up into the air, where it couldn’t hurt anyone or blow out a building.

A princess shouldn’t be so consumed by kissing another princess, but Regina had a one track mind. The need to be close to Emma overrode all logic and reason. It was a dangerous game, and she worried she was the one corrupting Emma.

She tried to stay away. She spent hours in the lounge looking at the chess board on the table there. She was playing a one move at a time game with an unknown but formidable opponent.

Princess school was a joke. Regina felt she had nothing to learn from the insipid fairies, anyway. They used wands and fairy dust to power their magic, and her teacher had explained how that was inferior to the magic he was teaching her. Her magic was dark: fueled by blood, sex and rage. It was hearty and rich, and when blended with the softer, elemental light magic that Emma wielded, nothing could stop their powers combined. That is, if either of them could calm down enough to control it.

They were getting better, they needed more practice, and the surefire way for their magic to activate was through touch: kissing and ghostly fingers over her skin. Over the past few weeks, they had crossed some boundaries, but Emma always stopped them, with whispered apologies even as she kissed her again and again.

Regina was frustrated, but Emma couldn’t seem to come to terms with her magic. She was scared, and fear was not something Regina understood. The only thing in the whole universe she feared was her mother.

She couldn’t help but wonder what her mother would think of her now: pining for Emma. At least it wasn’t Daniel. Her mother felt he wasn’t good enough for her. A prince of dream realm didn’t hold enough power, but Regina knew the opposite was true.

Dreams were everything. The dream realm was more real than the physical one in so many ways. Mother said it was for her own good that she put the spell on her and cut off from the channel that led her in sleep to dream. Regina knew better, though she had never thought to defy her mother before until now.

Without dreams there was no hope. She was beginning to see that. Emma was bringing it out in her, lightening her soul and making her care for the beautiful woman, whom was rapidly stealing her heart.

Regina held out for two boring weeks until she slipped into Emma’s dorm and needled up next to her in her thin nightgown under the covers. The only witnesses were random and annoying box of baby rats that lived in Emma’s closet, and the clear night sky. She never had to worry about Emma’s roommate, the wolf princess. Ruby tended to sleep all day and stay up all night.

“What are you doing here?” Emma asked groggily. She tried to slip away from Regina.

“Why, are you afraid of what we can do? Stop pretending to be so innocent,” Regina countered by moving closer.

“I’m not innocent… I don’t… trust myself around you,” Emma explained and her heart sounded heavy.

“I need you,” Regina widened her eyes, and stroked the back of her fingers across Emma’s face. “Please, sleep with me…I want to dream. It’s you. You make me…”

She trailed off and collapsed over Emma letting out a heavy sigh that ghosted across Emma’s lips. This time she didn’t try to move away.

“One kiss,” Emma whispered.

“Mmm, just one,” Regina husked in a low voice she knew that her sweet princess couldn’t resist. Her promise was a lie, but she didn’t care. She wanted to enter Emma’s dream realm. She loved it there. She could feel her magic growing and she salivated at the thought of pressing her lips to Emma’s.

She knew if she started kissing her again she’d never want to stop. She leaned over Emma trapping her in her bed, staring into her eyes and her lips as she pressed her body into hers. “I better make it a long one then.”


	15. Trust Dreams, Trust Yourself

Emma reached up and scratched her nose; the small motion caused Regina to shift even closer in her arms. She heard her raspy voice murmur and vibrate against her neck while sending warm breaths against her hyper-aware skin.

She couldn’t sleep. She’d been lying there wide awake, unmoving and tingling for over an hour, while Regina curled up against her like a sexy cat. One leg was thrown over Emma’s and Regina’s arms were curled loosely around her waist. Of course, as previously mentioned her face and lips were hot on Emma’s neck.

How could anyone sleep with Regina wearing a thin night shirt and not much else pressed up against Emma who was wearing an equally thin gown. Plus, Emma’s damned mattress was so uncomfortable it was like a knife was slowly working to sever her spinal cord.

The mattress was no comparison to blinding pulsing heat that made her panties uncomfortable and her thighs tremble. What the hell was up with magic? Emma wondered. She felt trapped by the solid weight of Regina’s sleeping form, but also expectant like something more needed to happen.

She’d agreed to help Regina visit the dream realm and have a chat with her boyfriend or whatever she maintained Daniel was/is. It was confusing, especially when Emma felt this tortured and wonderful all at once. Though in order for either of them to get to the dreaming, Emma was going to have to fall asleep eventually.

She lifted her neck and looked down at Regina’s peaceful face, before automatically stroking her silky hair, and smelling it. She smelled like a magic goddess, and she was so close. Emma regretted looking at and smelling her the moment she did because now all she wanted to do was kiss her. Truthfully, she hadn’t stopped wanting to kiss her since the first kiss they shared.

A dangerous explosive kiss, which almost got both of them caught practicing magic. The cleanup of that study room had taken hours even with the help of Regina’s more controllable magic. Emma still hadn’t studied for her damned politics test, but she couldn’t be bothered to worry about that currently. She needed rest and Regina kisses… mainly kisses… her heart was racing.

If they kissed again who knows what else they would end up exploding. Their magic obviously didn’t mix. Magic that Emma shouldn’t even possess or even think about using. Emma shuddered as she thought about Regina’s lips and breathed a bit harder when she felt Regina shift again and rub her thigh along Emma’s hip slowly. God, she could feel the extra heat from Regina’s core against her leg and it was maddening. More kisses…touches… Emma’s brain was going into overdrive.

“Emma?” Regina’s voice was soft and far away sounding, but it startled the shit out of Emma who was obsessing over magic kisses with wide peeled eyes staring at the empty top bunk.

Swallowing dry air, Emma tried to summon some moisture to her parched lips, “Yep…I mean….yeah?”

“It’s not working…” Regina whispered with utter disappointment.

“Hmm…”

“Because you’re not sleeping…” Regina added helpfully. She lifted up to look Emma in the eye, and Emma looked away guiltily.

“Sorry, trying to… maybe just…” Emma tried to shrug and smile nonchalantly. She was certain if Regina just kissed her once more she’d be able to calm down and fall easily asleep. Certain. The trouble was asking.

“I think I know what we need to do,” Regina blinked and pushed up off the narrow bed so she was sitting up on her knees and staring down at Emma with half-lidded eyes. “We need to get our magic combined again. I don’t think we’re touching enough.”

“What?” Emma blinked from exhaustion and loss of focus, as Regina was reaching down and tugging gently on the hem of Emma’s nightgown.

“I said we need to get more skin on skin contact,” Regina repeated as she rolled the nightgown up over Emma’s thighs and then her hips. She was leaning over her, knuckles brushing along her thighs and stomach as she pulled. “Sit up and lift your arms.”

Not sure why she responded to the command, Emma did as asked, and soon she felt the body heat warmed nightgown pulled fully over her head, and the cool night air ghosted across her bare skin. Her nipples stiffened immediately, but Regina was staring at her looking quite awake herself as she smoothly yanked her own gown over her head. They were both naked save for their underwear, and Regina was eyeing Emma like she wanted to take those too.

“Okay,” Regina crawled towards Emma who felt like a cornered and feral animal, unable to move and unable to take whatever was going to happen. The whole thing was surreal and terrible and wonderful.

Regina straddled her hips like it was the most natural thing to do in the whole world and lowered her naked chest right on down over Emma’s naked chest. Their naked chests were touching, and Regina was staring her right in the face and Emma was trying not to moan and feel but also very much trying to memorize all of this going on at the same damned time.

“Can I kiss you?” Regina asked pinching Emma’s chin to tilt her face upwards as she looked down and settled the length of her body over Emma, molding their softness together. She pulled back for a moment and added the dreaded caveat that confirmed Emma’s dark suspicions, “Just to get the magic going.”

Emma nodded and made a soft mewling affirmative noise that would she have had the time to dwell on would have embarrassed her, but Regina swallowed it away by closing the only gap left between their physical forms and kissed her slowly and softly.

Red and white stars were popping in patterns behind Emma’s closed eyelids, and she was slowly wrapping her arms around Regina and reveling in the feel of being pushed deeper into the mattress by the woman on top of her. But damn, she was also being pushed right onto the edge of the knife blade.

The magic was heating and growing, the pressure was building, and it particularly soared when Regina insinuated her hips right between Emma’s legs and rolled hard against the hottest part of her. The sexual shockwave that resulted binged around Emma’s nerve endings and caused her to clench her ass and wrap herself tighter around Regina, and kiss her deeper.

The light was getting blindingly bright and emanating from their bodies like a growing aura. Regina had taken up a goddamn rhythm with her hips and Emma was losing her sanity with every slow thrust. A horrific thought occurred to her in between her moments of sheer bliss. Emma pulled her mouth away from Regina’s watching as she tried to lean in and chase her for more contact. The white light dimmed a bit instantly, but didn’t diminish entirely. They were still lit up like the lava fields on eruption day.

“Regina, are we…is this… are we having sex?” Emma was beside herself with worry.

“Um…we’re making magic,” Regina seemed caught off guard, her relaxed and aroused face and body were pulling away from Emma and sitting back on her knees. The magic faded more.

Emma shuddered and scrubbed her hands over her face and smoothed back her unruly hair. “I know, but… using magic leads to out of marriage sexual acts of deviancy, doesn’t it? And what we were doing with the nakedness and the touching…that’s sex.”

“Oh darling, Emma,” Regina slid back down on her like she was submerging her in water, “you’re so innocent. Do you even know what sex is?”

“Of course I know what sex is, and I’m not innocent….not after all that,” Emma whined, unsure of why she was complaining.

Regina laughed, high and clear, “Don’t worry so much, you’re still innocent, as am I. I wouldn’t think of stealing the privilege of taking your precious virginity from your future husband.”

But the way Regina made that statement sounded like she had given a great deal of thought to doing exactly that. Her nervous laugh and shifty eyes were a dead giveaway to her lie.

“Then what were we doing… besides magic…that felt like more than magic: the kisses and the…rubbing thing.”

“It felt wonderful, was it not?” Regina was back in seduction mode, asking rhetorical questions in a falsely humbled and innocent sounding voice like she was just trying to please her, and then her lips were firm yet delicately latched onto Emma’s neck just below her ear.

Hesitating before answering, Emma opened her mouth but no sound came out, Regina’s hair was tickling her neck and the way her mouth was working over her skin was causing her higher brain functions to cease. Then blunt nails were scratching at her naked sides and Regina was moving lower down her neck and nibbling her shoulder. “Tell me if this is what you want, Emma?”

She sucked her hard and then soothed it out with her tongue. “I want to make the purest magic of them all with you…” Regina held on tighter, her fingers toyed with the waistband of Emma’s white panties. She ticked her lower abdomen as her mouth dropped to Emma’s nipple. She kissed one sensitive bud making sure Emma could see her lips pressed sweetly against it. Then she opened her mouth stuck out her tongue and flicked it before she sucked it in. Simultaneously her hand reached down farther and gently parted her nether lips before slowly swiping through her wetness.

“I want to know what you’re doing to me!” Emma cried out in a tortured gasp as she sat up on the bed and nearly bucked a sound asleep Regina off of her and onto the floor. She looked around the room: darkness. No magical energy runoff, and most disappointing Emma and Regina were both still wearing their bed clothes.

She had been asleep after all. The whole time. It wasn’t real.

Regina woke up, wearing the angriest and most frustrated look Emma had seen yet. “Emma, what the hell was that?”

Emma had no answer, as she realized with unmitigated horror that Regina had just shared that whole dream with her. She winced and placed her finger up to her lips as her skin colored scarlet from embarrassment. “Keep your voice down, you’ll wake the rat babies.”

“Like I care!” Regina bellowed and jumped out of bed.

Emma felt tears prickle her eyes, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t control it… I thought it was real.”

Regina was going to hate her. Not only had she failed to get her into a neutral dreamscape where she could summon Daniel, she had basically taken her dream virginity when Emma had been upset about that very thing.

Regina bit her lip, her face shadowed by the thin stream of moonlight shining in from the tall window at the side of the dorm. She turned back and Emma could see her features had softened though she still looked edgy and angry. “I thought it was real too.”


	16. What We Done

“Princess Emma, have a seat please,” Twinkerbelle was leaning over his desk with his hands clasped gently.

Emma entered the office, holding her breath. She had no idea why she was being called into the head fairy’s office, but she could guess on any number of violations.

“Yes, sir,” Emma sat down stiffly, and remembered her etiquette lessons. She scooted the chair close and crossed her legs. She had been dressing in breaches and tunics more often than she had donned her gowns. She just couldn’t care what other people thought of her when what mattered was her level of comfort, but today, she wished she would have went traditional. Twinkerbelle was clearly judging her.

“Emma, I don’t need to tell you that your mother is a prestigious alumnus to our school here,” Twinkerbelle looked Emma over. He had a way of speaking that made Emma want to jump in and say something-anything-to fill the uncomfortable silences. She kept her expression neutral even as she thought about the magic running rampant through her body. Could he detect it? Regina assured her, they were protected, but with the way he was regarding her she felt on display and exposed.

When Twinkerbelle left the statement of Snow’s alumni status hanging in the air for far too long, Emma had to say something. “Yes, I know well that my mother really enjoyed her time here.” She nodded curtly and folded her hands into her lap.

Twinkerbelle nodded back and pressed his lips together in a line. His eyes went downcast on a file on his desk and he opened it after licking his thumb for traction. “Emma, do you see these red marks?”

He pointed to a calendar written in French, but the red X’s covering many hours of the days were unmistakably negative in any language.

“Yes?”

“You haven’t been attending classes…you missed etiquette twice this week, you haven’t made it to a single morning class, and you’ve skipped Inter realm politics every afternoon.”

“Ah, no…that’s not right…I made it to half of my morning class last Thursday so I should definitely not have an X; maybe just, like, a slash for that one?” Emma said hoping that the headmaster would be pleased.

He slammed the file shut and brought his fingertips to his temple as if she was giving him a headache. “The question is why are you missing class at all? The fact that you failed your politics test is a big red flag, Princess. We take this very seriously, and clearly you are not.”

The politics test was hard, and all her study scrolls had burned up in the sex fire. How was she supposed to know who the original ruler of the 'Land Formerly Known as Wonderland' was? And why was there even a realm called 'Fictional London'? 

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping; it’s been really rough… Sir…I’ve never been away from my home kingdom before and I think the time change on the Floating City has really messed up my schedule, and my bed is really uncomfortable.”

That was true. It felt like there was a boulder under her back at night. Regina complained about it too, but Emma could hardly bring up the real reason she was missing class.

“Hmm, have you checked under your mattress for peas?” Twinkerbelle seemed to believe her.

“Peas?” Emma tilted her head in confusion. “Like the green things?”

He waved his hand by way of explanation, “A few camps back a few of the girls thought it would be a hilarious prank to place peas under the mattresses of the Princesses. We thought we got them all cleaned up, but there have been the odd account of an occasional pea appearing under a dorm mattress.

“Okay…well, no, I don’t think I’ve been sleeping on a pea. It feels like a giant jagged rock is shoved into my spine sometimes….” Emma trailed off, could it be she was so sensitive to something as small as a stupid pea?

“Well, check first, that could be your problem. Emma, I need to see an improvement in your studies and attendance or you will be suspended. Now, I’m going to need to send a scroll message to your parents to let them know about this meeting.”

“Uh, maybe…please don’t tell my parents!” It had never occurred to her that she might get in trouble. She realized then and there that she really was the epitome of entitled. She really thought she could run around making out with her partner, using magic makeovers, and skipping class with no consequence.

“I’m sorry Emma, but you should have had this meeting a week ago when the problem developed, but…” he lowered his voice to shocked whisper, “you’re the daughter of Snow White. You can be Queen Bee here, and yet you chose to set a different kind of example.”

“I promise to do better…look I’ll go to class right now,” Emma felt her eyes welling up. She didn’t want to find out how disappointed and upset her parents would be if they knew what she was doing, but at the same time she only felt guilty for getting caught. Even as she promised to be a good girl and head to class she was already just saying the words because that’s what the head master wanted to hear. She knew she could be sneakier, maybe Regina could help her do an invisibility spell…or better yet something to appear like she was in class, but it was just a projection.

She hopped out of her seat and dashed out the door of the office. She started to battle herself as she walked down the hall; her next class had already started. She decided she at least had to make the effort and go, even though she had plans to meet Regina in the maintenance closet on the third floor. She forced the dirty tug of magic that burst low in her belly down, and step by step she went to class.

She couldn’t focus on the history or English lesson that the small rotund bald fairy, Rod, was instructing on. It was something about the importance of bards and subjective reality. Yawn. Emma thought as she licked her lips and imagined letting some magic flow with her mouth and Regina.

What felt like an hour went by slowly, but when Emma looked at clock for the twentieth time, she saw to her dismay only ten minutes had passed. She was aching with the pressure of unspent magic and it all seemed to be building between her thighs. She should have packed more underwear. She thought she’d have plenty… she’d just magic herself up some new panties. She’d have to subtlety interrogate Regina on her preference….Emma looked at the clock again. It was never ending torture.

She heard someone to her right cough and when she looked back on her desk there was a folded note. She looked around in confusion as to who put it there, unable to comprehend how it got right under her nose. Looking up, she didn’t see any birds

Wrapping her folder around it, she scooted it off the desk and into her lap so she could read it without detection:

 

_My dear Princess,_

_You are very tardy for our practice session. You have five minutes from receipt of this note to get your ass up to the third floor maintenance closet._

_Or else._

_XOXO_

_-R_


	17. I Have a Hiding Place

Emma excused herself from class, making a pained face and clutching her stomach, she muttered, “Cramps.”

That was all she needed to say. She barely noticed the alarmed look and quick dismissal the fairy teacher gave her as she lurched out of her seat and out the door. She was so bad: skipping class to go make out with Regina.

Her parents would be oh so pleased, Emma rolled her eyes at herself and picked up the pace, not wanting to upset her partner for missing the five minute limit.

The halls of the large academic building were empty, and she listened to her steps echo on the stairway as she made her up to the third floor. She was almost out of breath by the time she reached the closet.

There was the distinct need to mix their magic, and even though they still didn’t have it completely under control, the desire was profound. Emma needed this more than she could have imagined. She was hooked on magic and her gateway dealer went by the name Princess Regina of the Shadow Kingdom.

Flinging open the door, Emma found her lady pacing in the small dark closet, just waiting.

“You received my note?” Regina asked, arching an eyebrow.

Emma nodded and licked her lips.

“And you came running?” Regina asked again, her expression dark and coy.

She nodded again and reached out for Regina unable to hide her eagerness to get her mouth on hers. Regina stopped her, stepping back and tapping a scroll against Emma’s chest.

“What’s that?” Emma looked down and took the paper from Regina’s fingers.

“I saved your royal ass,” Regina announced proudly.

“How?” Emma unfurled the paper, and started to read it in the dim light of the enclosed closet.

“I watched that stupid fairy counselor attach it to a raven and send it off: destination the Light Kingdom. After that, I simply intercepted it, and you’ll be glad I did,” Regina moved closer, acting all hot and haughty. Her fingers ran up and down Emma’s bare arms, and were proving to be quite the distraction to note reading.

“Interference with an official postal raven is an all realm offense!” Emma chastised Regina even as she scanned over the letter, written in the neat fae handwriting of a particularly anal Mairy.

_“Dear King and Queen Charming,_

_I regret to inform you that your daughter Princess Emma, has been behaving badly at school. She’s been engaging in magical acts, skipping class and making the wrong kinds of friends. Please be advised if these activities, which are in strict violation to the school rules, continue, your daughter will be expelled.”_

Emma finished reading and her jaw dropped. Regina was absently combing her fingers through Emma’s hair and leaning in to kiss her neck. Little bits of light were starting to sprout in trails off of her skin as their magic activated.

“I thought he wasn’t going to send a letter…” She felt betrayed and dumbstruck, but really all she could do was blame herself. Her behavior was out of control, she had broken the rules, everything contained in the letter was true, but….”How did he know about the magic?”

Regina gave her a pitying look, “Don’t worry about that right now…let’s just do what we like.”

She gently snatched the parchment from Emma’s outstretched hand and crumpled it, tossing it over her shoulder without taking her eyes off of Emma’s like she’d practiced the move. Next thing Emma knew was Regina cradling her chin in her hands and leaning in to kiss her.

“Making magic….making out,” Regina whispered huskily as she closed in with parted lips.

The moment their lips connected and she felt her magic rear up inside her like a plume of adrenaline she forgot about everything but getting her fix of Regina. With a grunt of want Emma slammed Regina up against the wall of the third floor maintenance closet and pinned her arms above her head, holding their bodies flush against each other.

Regina’s eyes slipped back in her head and Emma kissed her with fervor. “We really need to figure out how to control our magic,” Regina panted between kisses. Emma responded by growling and letting her magic out even more.

They lost themselves in the moment, no longer caring if they were lighting everything with up like Snow decorating trees for the winter festival. (She had a tendency to go overboard with the candles.)

Emma wasn’t sure how much time had passed. She never did when she was with Regina. Everything was a blur of overflowing emotion. She craved her when she couldn’t have her, and when she was with her it was never enough.

Regina had her arms wrapped around Emma’s waist, and Emma was playfully rolling one of Regina’s stiff nipples that she had freed from the top of her lacy black corset.

They were breathing so hard it was difficult to keep kissing when the door to the closet was suddenly yanked open and they sprung apart. The growing magic started to dissolve, and they looked up startled, overly aroused and flabbergasted to see who had caught them.

“Come on, lust-birds, we have a major problem,” Maleficent looked worried; she didn’t even flinch as she watched Emma try to stuff Regina’s saliva shined breasts back into her corset.

“How did you find us?” Regina asked, wiping her mouth and batting Emma’s hands off of her.

“Please, the magic light from under the door gave you two away, not to mention the breathy moans,” Mal smirked and looked them both over, as Regina pushed her messed up hair behind her ear and concentrated on calling back their magic. She condensed it into a ball and held it in her hand.

“What are you going to do with that?” Emma was still confused at the interruption.

“Throw it out the window so it doesn’t blow up the supply closet,” Regina clenched her fist tighter and stepped around Mally to cross the hall to the window.

“I would save it; we’re going to need all the magic we can get. The Mairies sounded the alarm,” Mal grabbed Emma’s hand and pulled her toward the stairwell. “We have to get out of here now.”

“What’s going on?” Regina asked again, she pocketed the ball of pure magic and followed toward the stairs.

“I think something happened to the magical protective barrier… It must be down…” Mal said as she dashed ahead of them and down the stairs. They came out of the stairwell into the courtyard. It was chaos, princesses were running, flying and crawling past them in a sheer panic.

Emma looked down at the cobblestone and saw a massive and jagged shadow glide over it at a rapid pace. It was too fast to be a cloud…she looked up, shading her eyes from the sun.

Something was circling them.

“Dragon!” Regina screamed and threw herself over Emma as a huge blast of fire scorched the courtyard and sizzled as it hit the water in the fountain, narrowly missing the three princesses.

Emma felt the wind knocked out of her as Regina and Mal hauled her to her feet and started to scramble for cover. They ran across the campus, dodging the fire blasts that hit awnings and caused pieces of stucco thatched roof tiles to fall into heaps of rubble. A waif thin princess screamed and fainted and another dragon: this one bright green with a huge head and snake like body plucked the unconscious girl with its small fore claws and hauled her off into the sky.

It roared so ferocious the noise rumbled the ground and Emma had to cover her ears out of instinct.

“Hope your magic is feeling strong, darling!” Regina screamed as she grabbed Emma and pulled her close. She looked her up and down for a brief moment and tried to kiss her with a hot open mouth.

“I-I don’t want to make out right now…seriously, any other time I’m totally game, but in case you hadn’t noticed---,”

Emma’s refusal was cut off by the insistent press of Regina’s mouth as she cupped the back of her head and forced her against her. The resulting magic mingle energized them both, and when Emma was finally released she looked over just in time to see Maleficent morphing in a cloud of purple into a huge dragon.

“Oh, shit…she really is the dragon princess, isn’t she?” Emma couldn’t believe it. Her jaw hung open.

“It’s time to ride!” Regina pulled Emma over to Mal even though her knees were weak and her limbs felt heavy from shock. Regina hopped on Mal’s spiky back, and easily straddled her long neck, as Emma clamored up behind her. She hadn’t even secured herself when Mal lurched forward with a great thrust and launched them into the wide open sky.

“Kiss me!” Regina demanded as she pulled Emma’s arms around her waist and turned her head. Emma felt another dragon whizz overhead, narrowly avoiding clipping its wings on the top of dormitory. She mashed her mouth against Regina and instantly their magic grew.

Gathering the courage to look down, Emma could see the ant like figures of running princesses being chased by dragons of all size and style. Some of the dragons breathed fire, and some opened their mouths and sprayed streams of highly pressurized water.

Mal took them up high; they seemed to hang weight less in the air for a long moment before they plummeted like a falling rocket down and down. Emma was sure she was going to lose her lunch and die, but at the last second Mal pulled back and skimmed the air just above the ground. Emma was forced to open her eyes, and look when Regina yelled.

“One…two…three: throw!” Regina nodded and Emma drew back her hand, allowing a manifestation of her magic flow out of it. They were steadily gaining on the green dragon that had a tight hold on the passed out princess.

“Aim for its wings…” Regina coached as she moved Emma’s hand to her breast, “pinch my nipple, how I like it… really gets my magic pumping.”

Emma pinched, boy, did she pinch, and Regina screamed in lust-drenched pain, but the resulting ball of magic was like a bomb. It hit the green dragon on its thin pathetic right wing, and it started to tailspin out of control.

Maleficent flew down and tried to line up underneath the falling spiraling dragon. Emma stood up, trying to balance her feet on Mal’s triangular scales and not fall as she blasted the beast right against its long belly with the strongest burst of magic she had ever thrown.

The creature released the princess as Emma lost her balance and started to fall. She screamed in compete terror and panic as she tried to swing her arms up and grab onto something.

Regina caught her hand just barely, and held on for dear life. For a moment, her eyes locked with Regina’s and the relief she saw shining back, mirror her own. Emma felt drained from using so much magic. She wished she had stockpiled more inside of her instead of throwing it out of windows into the sky.

The green dragon fell past them and onto the ground as Emma grabbed for the princess with her free hand, her shoulder ached, and she had to summon up her momentum to snag her fingers around the princess’s wrist. Emma let out a whoosh of breath as she looked up and then down where she had actually saved the girl from certain death. None of them were anywhere near safe yet they were all hanging off of Maleficent in a perilous chain. Regina was desperately using her magic to keep the grip. Emma could feel her sucking it up in the familiar give and take she was so used to, but Emma didn’t have much left to give.

“Mal, go down! Land, damn you!” Regina was screaming desperately for Mal to get closer to the ground in case they were dropped. “Hang on, Emma. I’m not letting go.”

“Yeah…please don’t,” Emma said through gritted teeth. Her arm felt like it was going to fall off. Another enemy dragon was flying fast towards Mal with clear intent.

Just as a dragon shot a breath fire blast at her, Mal dodged harshly, the balance shifted and Emma felt Regina’s grip release.

“No!” Regina screamed as she almost fell after them trying desperately to reach for Emma and the unconscious princess.

“Oh, shit!” Emma screamed as she felt herself drop. Luckily, they were headed for a roof, but it didn’t look very cushy.

“Tuck and roll! Tuck and roll,” Regina screamed with her hands cupped over her mouth so Emma could hear her frantic instruction.

Emma tucked, but she and the other girl didn’t so much roll as crash onto slanted roof of the dorm. The princess had come awake at the impact. She and Emma grabbed at the tiles as they slid and bounced down the side of the building. It slowed them down, but didn’t stop the slide. Emma needed magic, she had to dig deep. They were heading to the edge of the roof and the fall to the ground was not survivable.

She knew if she could focus on the feeling of it, the euphoric safety and warmth she could call some more up. She had to. She closed her eyes and held on as she let her mind remember the feel of Regina’s full lips and the safety and heat of her arms. Emma opened her eyes with a gasp and extended her hands, as she dug her heels into the tile and stopped moving just before she went over.

The princess did go over the edge, breaking off a section of the gutter pipe along with her as she fell.

At that second, Emma’s magic cooperated with her brain and she reached out and caught the princess with it, who was honestly rather annoying as she screamed so shrilly, midair. Emma reeled her down to the ground slowly, it took all of her concentration, but the princess made it safely to solid ground as Emma let go with her magic and stood up on the roof. When Emma leaned over and looked, the girl was gone.

“So being a hero doesn’t even get you a thank you around here?” Emma slammed her eyes shut and inhaled sharply whispering to herself.

She placed a leg up on a ledge and surveyed the campus. Maleficent was breathing fire at other dragons; Regina was shooting balls of fire and kinetic red/white magic. ‘ _She must be thinking of me,_ ’ Emma thought as she smiled like a fool and sucked in deep breaths to try and regain her sense of calm.

She was already looking forward to the make-up make out/rebuild of their magic supply. Hopefully, they could get busy and have a nice long night of _dreaming_ ahead.


	18. Imagine Dragons

But the worst wasn’t over. More dragons were appearing on the horizon: large and small. There was no way Maleficent and Regina could fend them all off, even if the princesses were safe. Emma swallowed thickly wondering how the dragons had found them. The magical barrier the fairies had over the island should have kept the Floating city impervious to all attack.

Of course, Dragons loved capturing princesses as much as Emma loved Regina, or at least sleeping, spending time, and kissing Regina. She couldn’t say she loved-loved her as she wasn’t a prince or a man, and there was the whole star crossed dream lovers scenario to consider.

“Hheeeeelllpppp me! My sweettt little babbbiiieeezzzz!”

Emma recognized the high pitched rat voice of Princess Epifaniaand hopped up onto the ledge, circling it around to her own dorm room. The sight of a one foot tall ugly ass dragon, clutching the rat princess and trying to scoop her babies out of their shoe box home greeted Emma.

The black and white little rats were adorable, and this damned dragon was trying to eat them like candies. Without thinking, Emma jumped through her broken window and grabbed Ruby’s big long knitting needle.

“Unhand the princess!” Emma yelled in a tone she thought sounded rather serious and menacing. The ugly dragon blew tiny fireballs out of its nostrils and turned to face Emma, just in time for her to see a tiny rat tail sucked up into its mouth like a spaghetti noodle.

The dragon cawed loudly and widened its eyes. It clutched the princess tighter, her eyes closed as she slipped into unconsciousness. Then it tried to lunge at Emma, she dodged it and thrust out her knitting needle.

So it wasn’t’ a big fancy sword, but this wasn’t a big fancy dragon and Emma was no knight…she was just a princess herself. But bitches had to do what they had to do. Emma thought of Regina and how this stupid ass Dragon war had interrupted her make out time.

She screamed and opened her mouth in anger, running toward the dragon as it tried to take off. It beat its wings and lifted up, preparing to wrap around Emma and peck at her with its horny beak thing. As they ran toward each other, Emma held out her tiny sword and plunged the needle straight through its heart.

It sputtered and flapped its wings and shrieked until it finally relaxed. Emma let go of the needle and left it sticking out of the creature’s scaly chest.

Then as it rattled in death, the creature managed to cough up three of the rat babies that it had swallowed. Thankfully they came up unharmed, though covered in soot and sneezing.

“Mama, mama, mama,” the little baby rats cried in relief, as they raced to their mother, the princess. She shook her head and opened her eyes slowly. Emma bent over and touched Princess Epifania with the tip of her finger.

“You saved me!” The rat princess breathed out in joy. “Princess Emma, you saved the lives of my babies!”

“It wasn’t too hard, the dragon wasn’t that big,” Emma blushed as the rat children, who grew up incredibly fast, ran up to her and crawled up her legs and over her shoulders. “Thank you for saving my mommy. Are you a knight?”

Emma held out her arm and looked at the rats crawling all over her, cheering her heroic endeavor. “Don’t be silly, I’m not a knight, I’m just a…”

Emma’s face fell and she trailed off. She looked down at her masculine attire, and scanned the fallen dragon along with the grateful rats in her company. “Huh, maybe I am a knight, actually. At least for today.”

Emma bid the rats adieu and made sure they were tucked safely away, before she crawled back out the broken window to survey the damage.

The campus looked like a war zone. There were massive fires roaring through the cafeteria and burning on the sports fields. Huge holes were smoking through the academic buildings and the whole island looked broken.

There were still dragons in the air and fighting on the ground. Emma slid down the roof, on her butt and heeded Regina’s advice from earlier to tuck and roll as she used a tiny bit of magic brought up by adrenaline to cushion her fall. She hopped to her feet and ran around without looking where she was going. Her eyes were looking up at the dark blobs of aerial cruising dragons. She heard the screams of princesses and saw the fairies shooting magic from their wands peeking out from behind overturned flower pots and fallen tree branches.

Her chest felt heavy and the air was dense, the smell of burnt…everything filled her senses. She searched the sky for Maleficent and Regina as she ran around the trails and paths of campus. She halted when she turned around corner and saw Mal on the ground with Regina slumped over on her back. The large dragon was cornered by a group of four smaller black dragons that had oily smoky breath. Mal was clearly fatigued, Regina looked unconscious.

Mal was gasping and her fire breath had extinguished when she tried to blow it looked like she was simply blowing hookah smoke out of her mouth and nostrils. The black sleek dragons were closing in. They had their sights set on taking Regina.

Mal’s large sides were billowing in and out with her rapid panting. Regina’s arm had fallen off her side, and the closest dragon almost nabbed her off of her back until Mal pivoted and scampered backwards. Her massive legs were trembling and the oily black fire was reaching higher up toward the beautiful and exhausted woman as Mal slowly collapsed.

Emma was running, with the sharp needle she had wretched free from the dead dragon’s side, and gasping as she tried to distract four dragons.

The knitting needle may have worked on the tiny thing, but these dragons that were lashing out and nipping at her, as she called them over were no match for the twig like needle.

“Oh shit,” Emma yelled as a long red thin tongue darted out and disarmed her with ease. The dragons opened wings like they were throwing back capes and advanced. Emma should have thought this through. That seemed to be a recurring mantra in her recent life. She watched Mal fall down completely, and Regina’s lifeless body slide off onto the hard ground.

“Hell to the no!” Emma screamed, and called up her magic she raised her hands and blasted two of the dragons away, but she couldn’t recharge in time to stop the third and fourth dragon. She felt a long sharp claw hit her side, and the pain of her flesh tearing as she went down. Then all that existed was the beating of mighty wings.

In the distance, she heard a long drawn out howl. She was too busy to register it as she felt the dragons drag off her boots and yank her up her belt as they pecked and scratched at her. She couldn’t die like this… her mom would kill her. And Regina…she had to make sure she was safe.

The pain intensified in her side and she felt thick seeping wetness of her blood running out from the sizable wound. The howling sounded again, and then there was a scary rumbling growl. Emma saw grey fur and black wings. She heard the dragons scream and hiss as the growling got louder. Emma drew in shallow breaths and backed up as fast as she could with her injuries. She slowly lifted herself up and clutched her abdomen as she limped over to Regina and Mal. The wolf was fighting with the dragons that were still in the fight.

They were on her back and under her feet; she tore one of the monsters heads off. Emma stumbled and limped over to Regina and fell down to her side. She tapped her cheek and pulled her gently into her lap.

She couldn’t tell if she was alive. As she examined Regina for injuries, Maleficent downsized back into human form in a swirl of purple and laid next to them coughing and clutching her belly.

“Regina?” Emma shook her and tear started falling. “Regina!”

The worry and fear was monumental. She could barely see through the salty wetness in her eyes and her actual vision was dimming from her own loss of blood.

“Oh my gods, kiss your fucking true love, you idiot,” Mal managed to croak out as she writhed on the cobblestones.

Emma sat up in alarm, barely registering that Mal had just implied Regina was her true love. She tried to focus; she leaned down, thought better, checked her breath, and then kissed Regina’s cold lips. Despite Emma being on her way to unconsciousness and despite Regina being already passed out, she felt the surge of magic between them.

It was faint and barely present, but Emma focused on the kiss and the filling feeling of the magic blowing in like smoked and touching her deepest places. She brought the magic to life, and brought Regina back.

Regina mumbled against her lips and Emma drew back, smiling in relief. She coughed, “Your breath is terrible.”

“You’re alive,” Emma stroked Regina’s hair and felt her magic growing even as it flowed into Regina.

“You’re hurt,” Regina turned her attention to Emma’s bleeding side.

“Nah, barely a scratch,” Emma tried and failed to pass off her injury.

“Yo, love birds, our wolf friend is getting her ass kicked,” Maleficent hobbled to her feet, and stumbled over to help both women to theirs.

The pain was intense, Emma felt like she had been ripped in two, but it didn’t matter with Regina wrapping her arms around her and applying pressure to her wound. They were both alive, and the power of their shared love proved to be as healing as could be destructive.

It was obvious Ruby was losing her fight. She had killed two of the black dragons, but the other two were beating her down, and scratching her sensitive flanks. She was bleeding and howling in pain.

“Can you?” Regina asked softly.

“Yes,” Emma replied and gave a firm nod of determination. They raised their hands in tandem and interlaced their fingers, pointing at one of the dragons and blasting it away. They jogged over to Ruby, she was still fighting, but the other dragon cawed when it watched its companion burn from the magic. It backed off and fled, leaving Ruby alone on the ground.

A moment later, she shifted back to human form, and opened her eyes. She was naked and covered in bruises and keep scratches.

“Thanks,” she croaked hoarsely, but was too weak to rise.

“I’ll get her inside,” Maleficent offered, bending down to lift the girl up under her arms.

There was more fire blasts, bouncing back and forth from overhead, blasts of multi-colored fairy magic filled the sky. Even though they were together, it was obvious that the battle was ongoing and no one was yet safe.

Mal and Ruby ran toward the dorms, which seemed to be the only building still somewhat intact. Regina focused her magic on Emma’s stomach to heal her. The wound stopped bleeding for the moment, but it was a deep enough cut that it didn’t heal all the way.

“Better?” Regina asked with a worried concentrated expression. She tried again to imbue Emma with magic, and failed. She was woozy on her feet.

“Yes, don’t hurt yourself trying to save me.”

“I’m fine,” Regina insisted even as she swayed in Emma’s arms.

“We have to get out of here,” Emma stated the obvious as they walked together toward the great hall and staying close to the remains of the building. 

In the main court, around the side, the swimming pool had turned into ground zero. All of the ape princesses were locked in battle with various dragons. They were splashing in the water, and chimpanzees were swinging from the trees above, throwing coconuts and branches at the monsters. In the middle of the battle stood Zelena, she was riding on the shoulders of a huge gorilla, fighting fire with fire.

“Looks like my sister is enjoying herself,” Regina commented, at the look of gleeful terror on Zelena’s face. She laughed as a dragon went up in flames and then fell into the pool making a loud sizzling sound when it hit the water.

The dragons were winning though, and making off with monkeys and orangutans in their claws, and flying far out of reach of the fireballs and coconuts. All at once the last of the dragons retreated, either with a hapless monkey princess or empty handed. They took off flying into the horizon. Regina took Emma’s hand, once she saw that Zelena was okay.

“Come on; let’s see if either of us has a room left.” They made their way back quietly and quickly through the ruined school.

“Guess I won’t have to worry about skipping class tomorrow,” Emma closed her eyes, and pinched her nose. She felt completely drained. The pain in her side had become a dull ache, with Regina so close she knew everything just had to work out despite the chaos and destruction surrounding them.

The dragons had obviously raided the place. Mattresses and bunks were overturned. Princesses were crying in the hallways and fairy teachers were bustling about trying to take role call so they could make sure everyone was accounted for and get the full extent of the damage.

“I think I could sleep for a week,” Regina muttered as they walked up the stairs of the dorm. She paused and stopped Emma in the hallway. She looked uncertain as she voiced her thoughts.  "I have an idea. I feel like I need.... that perhaps.... there's something we could do together to rejuvenate our magic?" 


	19. One look, One touch, We Won’t Survive It

“Are you asking about the ‘true love’ thing, cause I’m still not sure--,” Emma started matching Regina’s level of nervousness. Secretly, she was sure. She’d never been surer, but she couldn’t bear to face rejection from Regina. What if Regina told her she just liked kissing her because she was a P.L.U.G? (Princess Lover Until Graduation.)

“We are.” Regina interrupted as she squeezed her eyes shut out of fear. Quietly, she breathed, “I’m certain of it.”

Emma froze up at the confirmation. The whole ordeal was overwhelming and she was fairly certain her side hadn’t stopped bleeding entirely, and Regina could barely stay on her feet. They needed to make more magic and quickly before her wound scarred.

She realized she had been waiting for this opportunity since the moment she’d first met the enigmatic princess, and she wasn’t going to let exhaustion, non-life threatening flesh wounds or bits of dragon guts still stuck in her hair get in the way of the long awaited level-up in intimacy.

Emma had a pressing question, “So um, since we’re the real deal and all does that mean we can, like, do _it_ now?”

Regina frowned slightly at Emma’s poetic display of romantic vocabulary, and thought about that question for a moment.

“I think so…yes.” She decided and nodded eagerly. Grinning widely, there was a new bounce in her step despite her fatigue, and she took Emma’s hand to lead her away from her room and down the hallway. She batted her eyelashes seductively, “That is, if you want to _do it_ with me?”

Emma pulled back, hesitant. Oh, she did. She wanted to do it, that, everything and stuff with Regina, but she wasn’t entirely sure what constituted the _it_ of it.

“So like right now?” Emma swallowed, her eyes went wide with fear, “I-I don’t know what I’m doing…”

“How does that differ from usual, darling?” Regina winked and her eyes shone with excitement as she put her hands on Emma’s shoulders and kissed her lightly, before giving her a hearty shove towards the showers.

“I did slay a dragon and save a princess…actually, I might have killed, like, two or three dragons,” Emma bragged, boasting a bit to impress Regina. She didn’t think it would really work talking about how courageous and powerful she had been with that knitting needle, but it seemed to ignite something in the princess and Regina was suddenly more enthralled.

“Did you actually _slay_ one of those horrible monsters?” Regina murmured in awe, she backed Emma up into an open shower stall and stroked her cheeks with her cool fingers before kissing her with gusto.

Emma pulled back in a gasp as she was starting to feel the familiar and welcome burn and sloshy feeling of the magic.

“Yep, killed it dead.”

“Mmm,” Regina growled and kissed her again and the magic was faint but glowing steady. “Let’s get clean. We need to heal....imagine all the magic we can make naked,” Regina’s eyes were dark, her kiss-swollen lips were parted and she was working Emma’s belt buckle off with trembling eager fingers.

The adrenaline rush/confidence boost from slaying the dragon and kissing Regina back from the unconsciousness had her feeling like she was about explode, and honestly, it wasn’t just the day’s events that had her in a particular state. She felt this way every time she was near Regina: an indefinable ache emanating from the very center of her being.

“Let’s wash ourselves clean. We need to heal....imagine all the magic we can make naked,” Regina’s eyes were dark, her kiss swollen lips were parted and she looked super sexy.

Emma tensed up and inhaled through her nose, the very imminent thought of Regina naked, wet slippery, sliding wet skin over her wet skin made her lick her lips and hurry to help Regina get her undressed.

Regina sensed her nervousness amidst the excitement as she helped Emma shed her leather vest and pull her tunic over her head.

“Don’t worry so much; it’s just me. Anything we do is going to feel good because it’s you, I promise.”

Emma agreed wholeheartedly.

At this point, Regina could rub her elbow and it would result in sexual pleasure. They had made out, and dream touched, and over the past weeks Emma had gotten very familiar with Regina’s wonderful breasts.

She loved squeezing and holding their delicious weight in her hands, softly tracing her sides, and alternating pinching and palming her nipples. The breathy sighs and whimpers of pleasure Regina emitted sounded amazing and left her wanting and feeling overly warm.

She kicked off her boots and they landed on the tile outside the stall on top of her shirt and vest. Regina stood close to her and untied the ribbon at the end of Emma’s braid. She nimbly unknotted it and threaded her fingers up through her hair pulling the strands free and massaging Emma’s scalp as she went.

Emma was left in just her leather bra and pants. Regina kneeled down in front of her to examine her wound. Her fingers slipped over the jagged skin, and Emma flinched. Regina focused her concentration and pressed her palm against the cut. Emma felt it slowly dissolve from a raw wound to a deep scratch, then a fine cut and when Regina took her hand away Emma’s skin was smooth, healed and unblemished.

“Perfect,” Regina stayed on her knees, and pressed her cheek to the taut skin of Emma’s abs. She turned her face and kissed her belly with reverence then hooked her thumbs in the waist of Emma’s pants. She tugged them down over her hips and slipped the leather down past her knees until she could brace her hands on Regina’s shoulders and out of them.

Regina slowly stood up, working her hands over Emma’s bare thighs as she rose. Then she simply stood in front of her and pulled her arms free of her loose fitting dress until it hung around her waist and her torso was completely bare.

Emma had touched Regina’s breasts over clothes and through the thin barely there fabric of her nightgown, but never directly on her skin. She stared at her beautiful symmetry as Regina pushed her dress all the way down and off.

“Let me see you.”

She nodded and unclasped her bra, sliding it all the way off; she threw it into the ever increasing pile of discarded clothing and shoes.

Suddenly, the room seemed very quiet except for the short panting sounds of their combined shallow breath as they looked at each other bashfully. Regina moved first. She took a step closer, and reached behind Emma to turn on the water. The hot stream of water roared with pressure and Regina took soap and a sponge from a rack and washed the blood and grime from Emma.

Getting clean and having a sexy naked woman cleaning her, made Emma’s heart pound in her chest and when Regina touched her hips and asked her to turn around Emma obeyed dutifully. She felt the soapy sponge run up and down her back and then over her hips and over the swell of her ass. Emma shivered from anticipation as the water soaked her hair and Regina cleaned her body thoroughly.

She turned back around then, and took the sponge. Taking her turn to explore and map out the geography of Regina’s heavenly body. She rubbed the frothy soap over her breasts, leaving lazy white trails of bubbles, and then let the water wash it away, only to create new enticing paths over her stomach which reached all the way up to her neck.

“Touch me,” Regina backed Emma against the stall wall, causing her to drop the soap from surprise. She pressed her wet soapy body fully against Emma. “Please, Emma…I’ve been so patient, but I can’t wait.”

Emma’s placed her hands on Regina’s hips, and felt her pelvis thrust forward sharply. The friction was torturous, and Emma felt her whole body tingle when a burst of endorphins rushed through her. Her sex was pounding and Emma was fairly certain Regina meant she wanted her to touch her there.

“What the hell are you waiting for?” Regina snapped, but Emma was in a magical daze and busy worshiping smooth skin, wanting her closer. She was pressed tightly against her, but she still didn’t feel close enough. The strength of desire was maddening, but Emma was getting frustrated she didn’t know what else to do.

In sheer exasperation, Regina whimpered and took Emma’s hand in hers bringing it down the front of her body. She paused just below her belly button and looked up into Emma’s eyes, searching, and then she kissed her as she guided her hand between her thighs.

Emma drank in the kiss: her body became a well for magic. It was slowly filling up with fresh honey dripping, drop by drop, into each and every cell. Her fingers skimmed over soft, pliant flesh and alarm bells rang through the haze of goodness in her head. Her hand went limp under Regina’s and she pulled away with an unsatisfied groan.

“You’re completely innocent, aren’t you?” Regina chuckled and drew a tight smile. Emma shook her head in confusion.

“You know I’m a virgin,” Emma muttered plaintively and fluttered her eyes open. She couldn’t focus; she was so distracted by the intensity of her arousal.

“As am I,” Regina stated, “but I touch myself all of the time. Mother says it is good practice for…times like these.”

“Your lady petals?” Emma lowered her voice into a scandalized whisper. “Your mom encourages that?”

Regina smacked her lips, her eyebrows shot up and her face took on a pained expression like she was trying not to laugh. She looked like she was about to say something, but clamped her mouth shut. “Yes…my… lady petals….Emma, lean back against the wall and spread for me.”

Emma let her heavy feeling head fall against the wall; she was so relaxed and full of trust. If it wasn’t for the throbbing need stemming from her lady petals she could have fallen asleep standing.

Regina kissed her again for reassurance, and then licked down her neck, sucking on her pulse point at the base of her throat. She squeezed her breasts and bent her head to suckle one point and then the other.

Emma closed her eyes and moaned as sensation coursed through her, and the magic swelled faster. She was already almost overflowing with it, her natural reserve was restored. Regina made a low throaty noise of appreciation as she pulled on her pink nipple with her lips and released it with a pop.

As Regina used one hand to stroke Emma’s damp hair, her other traveled between Emma’s legs and started a gentle caress of her outer lips. Emma wobbled on her heels, and felt Regina press closer. Emma moved her hand from the wall and brought it back to Regina, mimicking the light teasing touches.

“Like this,” Regina panted as she increased the pressure of her fingers and swept them slowly through the ample wetness.

“Oh…” Emma swallowed and concentrated on the growing bloom of passion she was feeling. It was new and wonderful, but it was making the need within her double. She slid her fingers against Regina’s core in imitation, carefully parting her nether lips and gliding through.

“Yes, more,” Regina threw her head back and smiled widely as she pushed herself into Emma’s hand, and curiously Emma found her hips were moving on their own volition, searching for Regina’s fingers. “Good, right there…”

“Regina fell forward, gasping when Emma started rubbing faster. Then she felt her squeeze her shoulder with her free hand, and start rolling her hips, pushing Emma’s hand back so it was braced against her thigh.

Emma screamed from the shock of the brief burn of pain that mingled with the pleasure when she felt Regina push a finger inside her. She announced, “This is sex, dear.”

“Okay…” Emma nodded vigorously, as just tried to hold on, and keep her fingers moving as Regina rocked and rolled against her. They were both losing focus; the magic was spilling out and growing in light and heat all around them. Emma could barely breathe as her muscles tightened and her knees buckled. She caught herself before she fell, but then she thought she had fallen. Colors burst behind her eyelids and a great cascading torrent of magic and joy she had never known washed over her. She wanted to soak in it, and stay in the warm bath of euphoria for as long as possible.

Regina moaned as she stiffened and then relaxed completely against Emma. She pulled her hand away to wrap her arms around Regina’s waist and hold her up. Emma noticed that her fingers were coated in silky feeling liquid. Regina was kissing her then, and cooing against her lips. “That was wonderful,” she breathed gleefully.

Emma smiled back and pulled away in concern, “We made way too much magic.”

“Yes, we did,” Regina cackled as if drunk on lust. She sobered immediately when finally became aware of the heat and shimmering magic cloud about to go nuclear. Emma watched as she lifted her hands into the air and grabbed the magic. She pulled it into a ball of light and then closed her eyes in concentration and separated it into two globes, and dropped one on herself and the other over Emma.

The magic ball dissolved into a cloud of purple and when it cleared both women were redressed in fine, clean clothes.

“You’re getting better at that,” Emma was impressed, though disappointed that wet and naked time had concluded.

Regina grabbed her by collar and kissed her again, “We’re doing _it_ again as soon as possible.”

Emma wasn’t about to argue. So she lost her virginity in the shower stall of her college dormitory, and not on her wedding night, but it was to her true love and it had been perfect.

Quietly, they slipped into Emma’s dorm room to rest. Emma lifted her mattress and sure enough, there was a small green pea right there. She picked it up and flicked it out the window, “Bastard pea.”

 

 


	20. No Secrets Left Inside

The heavy breaths of Maleficent and Ruby in the bunk above sounded distant as Emma crawled into bed and opened her arms for Regina. She breathed in her scent and wrapped her arms around her tighter. She never wanted to let go again. Her thoughts wouldn’t stop racing. She had killed dragons and she had controlled her magic, and she had found her true love. She should be proud of herself, but she worried about what would happen next. If the fairies couldn’t get the barrier back up, there was no telling what would become of the school.

Emma didn’t want to go home. She couldn’t leave Regina and she had grown too accustomed to her new style of dress and the way she was now. Her parents wouldn’t understand. They definitely wouldn’t let her go galloping over to the Shadow Kingdom whenever she wanted to visit her favorite princess.

Unbidden, tears started to fall from Emma’s eyes before she even realized it. It was finally hitting her how close she was to losing Regina. It could have ended a different way. It could have ended in either of their deaths.

She was going to desperately miss her dorm bed (sans pea), the showers, and especially the third floor maintenance closet.

One of the fairies came buzzing through the busted out window holding a hollyhock petal rolled up. He was shouting and magic was amplifying his voice through the pink petal.

_Everyone report to the infirmary now….Everyone report to the infirmary at once for an important announcement from your Headmaster, Twinkerbelle._

Regina roused from sleep, her lips were reaching up to find Emma’s before she even opened her eyes. They met in another rejuvenating kiss.

“You weren’t sleeping…why?” Regina asked in a small worried voice.

Emma kissed her again and stroked her hair. “Oh, just worrying about things.”

“Do we really have to get up?” Ruby said from the bunk above, her voice a deep and annoyed growl. “I just fought a shit ton of hellish dragons….no offense,” she added for Maleficent’s benefit.

Maleficent yawned and the bed above squeaked, “Right? If Twinkerbelle can fly around and announce that there is an announcement can’t he just save us the hassle and tell us what’s going on?”

Regina pulled out of Emma’s arms, and Emma reluctantly let her go. She rolled out of bed on shaky legs, and opened the closet to check on the rats. “Are you all okay in there?”

“Yes, thank you. The babies are sleeping and since the barrier is down, I sent a courier mouse to get my boyfriend. He’ll be back and arrange safe passage for us off of the island,” Princess Epifania warbled; her black eyes were filled with the rat version of relief as far as Emma could tell.

“You’re leaving?” Emma asked in surprise. “Are you sure you’ll be safe…the dragons could come back at any time. Who knows if they’ve all even left yet?”

“We will take our chances. Thank you again, my knight. Say hello to your mother for me.”

“Emma, let’s go,” Regina took her hand gently and led her away from the closet. “We need to hear what’s going on.”

They made their way downstairs and to the infirmary, where all the bedraggled and injured princesses were talking in hushed whispers amongst themselves. Emma kept hold of Regina’s hand, and didn’t care about the looks they got from the others. She expected those girls to be grateful, especially Princess Peach who Emma learned was the one she plucked out of midair and saved. She was met with a quiet disdain.

The Mairies were lined up in a row, floating at the front of the room and just above the crowd of girls.

Twinkerbelle started to speak, “As you know, due to the unfortunate attack we suffered today, the protection spell that keeps this island safe and free from outside evils has been comprised. At this time, we don’t know how it went down, but we do know it had been weakening over the past few weeks and it had to be a heinous job that was done on the inside.”

There was a wave of panicked voices that temporarily drowned out Twinkerbelle’s speech.

“Everyone remain calm. We plan to get to the bottom of this. The magic that took down the barrier was very powerful, and if we do have a traitor or traitors in our midst we have to be extra cautious. Your safety has been and always will be our number one concern, and that is why we are closing the school for the duration of the term.”

Emma and Regina looked at each other in alarm. Emma blinked several times and leaned over to Regina’s ear, “Could it have been us?”

“Ssh,” Regina hissed, she was trying to keep a placid expression, but her eyes were tense and her chin was quivering. “Don’t say a word right now.”

Emma closed her eyes and tried to understand.

“Are there any questions?” The second in charge Mairy asked the group.

_“How are you going to find out who did this to us?”_

_“I can’t find my friend, were girls captured by the dragons?”_

_“What if they come back?”_

_“How are we going to get home!?”_

The girls were all shouting at once.

“One at a time,” Fairy Barry shouted.

“Girls please; we are doing our best to handle this. I must ask you all to remain calm and do not turn on each other. The magic that was used to compromise the barrier was powerful and raw. If it had been one large attack of magic from outside we would have been able to activate our defense system, but what occurred was a series of small bursts of magic over the past few weeks that weakened the barrier without us noticing until it was too late. By the time the dragons noticed the barrier couldn’t be resurrected,” Twinkerbelle held up his tiny fairy hand and commanded the princesses.

“Now, we must make haste as we are still vulnerable to other attacks from wizards or any other enemy that might take this opportunity.”

He continued, “Yes, we are missing four princesses; two of them are from the Ape Kingdom, one from the Rat Kingdom, and one from the sea kingdom.”

“Ursula,” Maleficent whispered as she scanned the crowd. She spotted Carolyn against the wall and felt relieved that she looked her regular, creepy self.

Zelena pushed past a group of girls and walked up to Regina, “Sis, there you are. You don’t have any idea how the protection spell was breached, do you?”

“Leave me alone, Zelena,” Regina looked sick, and Emma wrapped her arms around her waist to keep her from zapping her sister out of anger. Truthfully, Emma was rapidly growing angrier herself. She and Regina had caused the magical force field to come down; she was more and more certain of it by the moment.

“My friends were taken by dragons! Tell mother that I’m going with the Gorilla princess to find them and don’t leave the light on,” Zelena glared at Regina and then looked Emma up and down angrily. “I knew you were getting too close to this horrible blonde. Really, Regina I thought you were raised with better taste than _that_.”

“Keep your voice down. This isn’t the time to suddenly start caring about others, Zel!” Regina was livid. She pushed Emma’s hands off of her waist and pointed her finger in Zelena’s face.

“I care! I’ve always cared…too much,” Zelena turned on her pointy black heel and lifted her chin snootily as she pushed her way back through the crowd.

“Ladies! Please be quiet…we’ve set up a temporary magic protected safe haven in the gymnasium for you to wait the arrival of your parents. They’ve been contacted through our emergency mirror broadcast system and will come to get you and take you home. The maids are packing your things as we speak. Please make your way to the gym.”

“The Mairies called our parents!” Maleficent’s outrage was echoed by Emma.

Regina grabbed Emma’s hand and pulled and her out of the infirmary, ahead of the other stampeding and frightened girls. Emma followed her into the empty and partially destroyed cafeteria.

“We have to get out of here now!” Regina shouted and paced back and forth as soon as they were sure they were alone.

“This is your fault!” Emma let her tears flow freely. She was frustrated and angry at herself. Before she knew that she was responsible for the attack she had been feeling proud of herself for stepping up and using magic, but now she knew her horny ass and magic was responsible for the whole school shutting down. “They are going to find out that it was us! Twinkerbelle already knew that I’ve been using magic.”

“Emma, I’m sorry…I didn’t know that throwing our excess magic into the sky was weakening the barrier. You have to believe me,” Regina started crying and clutching her stomach. The sight made Emma’s heart ache, but she felt so guilty and remorseful.

“Ursula could have been taken!” Emma shook her head. “What are my parent’s going to think of me?”

“They don’t have to know…we can take off and lay low. We have to leave now,” Regina pleaded. She couldn’t bear to leave Emma.

“And why should I go with you?” Emma wanted to forgive Regina. She believed that she didn’t know what had happened. She wanted to believe her.

“Because you idiot, I love you!” Regina barreled into her in a surprise attack hug and pushed her against a still smoking and cracked wall. “You! You are my true love.”

She pushed her forehead against Emma’s and sucked in a hitched breath. Emma squeezed her eyes shut as she let the words sink in. She knew it was true and it was love. Everyone knew it. They radiated it in their auras. It was tied into the fabric of their beings.

“I love you too, you evil witch,” Emma cried as she grabbed Regina’s jaw and held her face in place to kiss her soundly. When they broke apart, their eyes were filled with hope and uncertainty over what to do.

The best plan was to run. Hand in hand they took off together. There was no time to worry about their clothes and belongings; they could always use magic to make a new set.

They had no time to plan, just to run. Emma felt her lungs burning as they ran across the recreation fields and around the dormitory. They ran up the bridge that they all had to cross back to the mainland and didn’t look back.

….

The island wasn’t in the same place as when they had come to the school as reasoned by its floating nature. The woods they found themselves in were dense and unfamiliar. They walked and walked for what felt like hours.

The sun was hidden by the trees, and both women’s energy levels were already compromised by the long draining day.

“It’s going to be okay,” Regina stumbled over a fallen log. The going was slow and the terrain unforgiving.

“We don’t even know where we’re going,” Emma was starting to question whether leaving was the right plan. If she had stayed put and let her parents come collect her she’d be home in her own room by now, though undoubtedly grounded there for the rest of her natural life.

She shook off her doubts when she looked at Regina. Her face was drawn in a line of determination and longing. “I can’t go back to my Mother; she’ll be furious…or possibly proud that I managed to bring the entire _La Ville Flottante Des Fées_ to its knees with my magic.”

“I don’t know which is worst,” Emma swallowed as she thought about it. “Your mother sounds like a piece of work.”

“As does yours,” Regina said with a knowing smirk.

“Should we stop and rest?” Emma asked. She was out of breath and her lungs were burning.

“I want to put more distance between us and the island. Our family might have arrived by now and they are probably wondering where we are,” Regina took Emma’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

The sheer dread that washed over Emma at that thought was sickening. She imagined her mom coming for her on the fastest horses in the kingdom, worried out of her mind. When she discovered Emma wasn’t there she’d be shattered. The not knowing would kill Snow and Charming.

“Maybe we should go back,” Emma stopped and pulled Regina to her. “Maybe we can go back and I can explain everything to my mom and dad, and they’ll understand…we can be together. We have to be, right?”

“Oh, Emma…” Regina closed her eyes and dropped her hand as she started to cry. “If only that were the case, but as it is, this is the only way I can see that happening in this or any other realm.”

Emma was about to speak when she heard the branches in the distance rustling. Something big was moving at a rapid pace through the woods. “What’s that?”

Regina’s eyes widened as she caught a glimpse through the woods, “Emma, run!”

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Emma found herself holding Regina’s hand running blindly through the trees. They had been too busy making out to learn any skills of use, like an invisibility cloak, so it was up to their physical prowess to keep going and Emma wished she wouldn’t have skipped so many gym classes.

The rustling sound was gaining on them until Emma could feel something hot breathing down her neck and hear the thud of a horse’s hooves on the packed earth of the forest.

Suddenly, she was suspended, her legs were still running but she was no longer moving. Thick vines and branches were holding her immobilized and Regina was next to her in the same state.

“Regina, darling. I hate that I had to do this…tracking you and your pretty companion like animals, but I fear you left me no choice in the matter,” The woman rode her huge black stallion around the girls in a circle, and Emma looked up in confusion to see who had caught them.

“Hello, Mother!” Regina yelled in anguish.


	21. The Girl, She is Dreaming

“Your bard has been waiting to speak with you about school, Emma. Are you up for telling your story?”

Emma rolled her eyes when she heard her mom’s voice drifting through the door to her bedchamber.

“I’m trying to sleep!” Emma shouted as the knocks grew louder. She hadn’t been able to sleep since her parents came for her, along with the royal army, and ‘nobly rescued’ her from the Shadow Kingdom, along with her hopes for a loving, future with Regina.

First, when Regina’s mom had found them, she whisked them away with a magic teleportation spell. Emma had no idea what was going on or where she was. Now, she was home in her own lonely, but comfortable, bed.

She hadn’t seen Regina for two weeks.

“Emma, Sweetie? We’re not mad at you, just disappointed,” David spoke through the door, and Emma realized the parental unit was ganging up on her and not going away until she spoke with them. They’d probably bring in the Cricket again to help them all ‘facilitate’ their feelings.

At least everything was out in the open. Emma was mad and disappointed with her parents.

They had kept her so sheltered; they didn’t give her the skills or healthy ways to handle the world. She looked like an ignorant fool in front of the worldly and unworldly princesses of neighboring kingdoms. She wanted to blame everyone, but ultimately her decisions and the way she had given into temptation caused the destruction and livelihood of the _La Ville Flottante Des Fées_ and ruined a whole bunch of Princesses’ summertimes.

Without the revenue from the charm school, the Mairies had no income to keep up their lifestyle. Queen Cora invited them to come and work for her and having no other options they were going to have to accept her offer. She thought they’d be perfect to run her gambling and bath houses, and Emma had overheard her talking about how their tiny hands and big wands were just right for picking poppy seeds from Oz for Zelena’s cartel operation.

“Fine. Come in and we can talk,” Emma finally agreed. While she was away her parents had preemptively signed a Realm wide publishing deal for the rights to her storybook, and now every move she made had to be documented by her bard.

Snow and David came into the room quietly, followed by Emma’s beleaguered bard, Mike, but the atmosphere was tense.

“Just tell your story to Mike so he can write it,” Emma’s father said, but he sounded exasperated. “Don’t leave out any of the unsavory details, Emma.”

“I know the story doesn’t quite have the happy ending we wanted for you, but at least you’re alive. I knew I should have paid more attention the red flags you were exhibiting, but I thought the school would be a fresh start,” Snow said as she motioned for Mike to take a seat at the desk. Emma watched him unroll his scrolls, and set up his quill and ink.

“It was a fresh start, Mom. Do I really have to tell him everything that happened?” Emma pinched the bridge of her nose and flopped down on the bed. She wanted to be left alone so she could try and get to sleep. She hoped that her love was strong enough to break through and make contact with Regina in her dreams despite the spell.

“Well, you can leave off the part about how we had to pay for your safe passage home from the Shadow Kingdom after Queen Cora and her daughter kidnapped you,” Snow’s lip quivered in shame and anger.

“She didn’t kidnap me. I wanted to go with Regina. I love her!” Emma pleaded with a shake of her head as she pulled the pillow over her face to hide her tears.

“That’s absurd. I don’t how they put this ridiculous notion in your head and influenced you to use sensual _dirty_ magic, but it was nothing but a dangerous power play. Queen Cora wanted to talk marriage between you and her daughter can you believe the audacity of that woman? She’s immoral,” Snow informed Emma, but what was meant as a scathing judgment only served to perk her up.

“Regina wants to marry me and her mother would allow it?”

“The notion is ludicrous. She talked about joining our kingdoms and setting up brothels along the road to the Enchanted forest, said it would be a cash cow in our Puritanical society,” David rubbed his chin in contemplation. “The Shadow Kingdom is our sworn enemy and we can’t have our Princess associated with the likes of those people. They are hardly even royalty!”

Emma’s mind was reeling. If her family had rejected Cora’s proposal then what was going to happen to Regina? She’d done nothing but try to think of a way to get back to her since they parted.

“Not to mention how she had you dressed…leather _pants_ , really?” Snow just had to get in that little jab. Next, she’d insult the braids in her hair or the way she walked.

Her mother was starting to chafe on Emma more than any leather ever did.

“As soon as I can magic myself up some new clothes on my own, I’m going to wear leather all the time. That’s right, I slayed a dragon at Princess Camp and everything. I’m not your little helpless girl anymore.”

Snow and David stared at her in shock, “You what?”

“I have room to move in tunics and vests. I’m tired of being uncomfortable in corsets and billowing skirts just because of some outdated notion that’s how I’m supposed to dress,” Emma shrugged in nonchalance, and steered the conversation in her favor.

“I know how important my storybook is to you two, so I will talk to my bard under one condition,” Emma had to hope that her bargaining would work.

“What do you want, dear?” Snow cautiously stepped closer and sat on the bed.

“I want to see my Fairy Godmother. I have two wishes left and I want them granted,” Emma sat up and looked her mother in the eye. She knew royal law stated that a princess was entitled to her three bestowed wishes from her Fairy Godmother. It was in the treaty that the female fairies signed with the Light Kingdom in exchange for their ration of pixie dust mines.

“Oh, honey… whatever are you going to wish for?” Snow’s eyes were opened wide in fright.

Emma ignored her mother and shouted toward the ceiling, “Blue! Appear! Come on, I could really use a wish right now!”

In a sparkling cloud of blue glittery dust and trumpeted in by the tinkling of tinny sounding bells, the blue fairy appeared in the middle of the room.

Mike was already scribbling furiously on his parchment, recording the scene as it unfolded.

“You want to use a wish?” Blue seemed annoyed and judgmental.

“Yes, two wishes… actually.”

“At once?” Blue rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles. Emma knew she had been informed about the fate of the floating city and her male fairy friends.

“At once,” Emma confirmed standing her ground. “I know my rights as royalty of the Light Kingdom; you have to grant them for me.

“If I may interject,” Mike cleared his throat and piped up from the desk. “According to the report I received from the fairies Emma had already asked for her second wish and it went un-granted.”

“When?” Emma racked her brain trying to remember wishing for anything besides getting her ears pierced.

“Well, it says here that Emma was serious when she called out to her fairy godmother in vain and wished for Princess Regina to use her talented tongue to lick a searing trail down the valley between her breasts, across the indent of her belly button and straight down to her--to her-- aching and sodden--.”

“Yes! I heard _that_ wish,” Blue narrowed her eyes and stomped across the room, trailing glitter everywhere. She waved her wand at Emma, “I don’t grant ‘special night time’ perverted dream wishes like that so it went unanswered.”

Emma blushed furiously and wished her mother would stop looking at her with abject horror like when the stable boy kicked the royal puppy in front of her.

“I’m an adult now, mom, and I have a true love so it’s okay to do special acts of true love like that,” Emma was feeling rather frustrated and embarrassed. She did remember making that wish in her dreams, and she would give her first born to have Regina back in her bed and for that wish to come true.  

“My baby is unmarried and talking about _wedding night_ activities…” David stared at Emma like the world was ending.

“I think I need to leave the room,” Snow fanned herself and she jumped up from bed and grabbed her husband, ushering him out.

“I have a new wish,” Emma stood up and spoke directly to her lovely and personable Fairy Godmother. “For my first wish I want you to restore the Floating City so the Mairies can re-open the school.”

Blue sighed heavily, “That’s a big wish, a lot of work… dwarf contractors don’t take their pay in pixie dust and I heard there was quite a bit of structural damage from dragon breath.”

“Can you do it or what?” Emma asked firmly and through gritted teeth.

“Yes,” Blue closed her mouth after that. She waved her wand around for ceremonial purposes and tried to take her leave.

“Eh-hem, I said I wanted to use my second wish too,” Emma reminded her and grabbed her wrist before she could dissipate in a cloying cloud of blue lilac smelling magic.

“I hope you’re asking for a new true love, because Princess Regina is unfit for you,” Blue hissed.

“What’s it to you?” Emma wondered in all seriousness. Why did it matter to her parents and her fairy godmother who her true love was? They should all just be happy she found someone who wanted to be with her. Her kingdom was much more prejudiced then she previously thought. Everyone had their own selfish agenda, but Emma was determined to get away from it. She would find her happy ending or die trying.

Blue sputtered and preened and batted her annoying hummingbird wings, “What’s your wish?”

Emma paused in thought. She knew she had to word it carefully. “I wish to go to the dream realm.”

“You go to the dream realm every night when you sleep,” Blue rolled her eyes and her wings stopped their incessant fluttering.

“No, like, you know that Ambien flower that mom takes when she can’t sleep at night but it makes her look like she’s awake, but she’s still technically dreaming?” Emma knew she was rambling, but she didn’t know how else to explain what she wanted.

“Your mother has a special prescription from the royal doctor for Ambien flower and Xanax fruits, there are side effects, and I can’t just give you magic drugs...”

“I don’t want that. I want to be able to visit the Dream realm when I’m awake.”

“You want to the power to physically transcend realms?” Blue asked in shock. “Well, don’t we all.”

“Yes, but not only for me…for Princess Regina too,” Emma added and licked her lips nervously.

“I can’t do it,” Blue replied sounding sure of this fact.

“I’ve had enough of your sass, Blue. If you can’t grant it then you’re not much of a fairy godmother, anyway,” Emma sneered at her, knowing an insult would hurt the woman’s pride. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

“I _can_ do it for you…any request can be granted with magic,” Blue huffed and readjusted her ridiculous corset, “But not for the Shadow Princess.”

“Why not for her too?” Emma was starting to worry that this wish wouldn’t do.

“I can’t do it for her because she’s already in the dream realm in her physical form. Her mother banished her there right after you came back,” Blue spoke and realized she shouldn’t have revealed that information, but it was too late.

“She’s there?” Emma felt her heart race in excitement. “Do me then, please?”

“Fine.” She waved her wand and glowing dust shot out from the tip and settled over Emma.

“Done,” Blue crossed her arms in defiance. “But I hope you know what you asked for. The King of Dreams doesn’t like wakers in his land. He’ll probably give you the boot before you can find your Princess.”

The window in Emma’s room turned black and Emma realized it was an open portal.

Emma didn’t care what her Fairy Godmother said. She was already leaving her bedchamber and crawling into her dream channel. The sensation was new, but familiar just like she had done every night as she fell asleep. The Dream Realm was always dark and sparse when she entered. She had no feeling of warmth or cold, and she wandered around getting a feel for being there in reality, but still being in a dream.

She could feel Regina’s magic reaching out for her as she trudged through the unshaped space of dreams and that feeling was what she clung to.

Emma realized as she went in the dream realm anything was possible if she willed it. To test her theory she imagined a big juicy BBQ Cherna-burger and one appeared floating in front of her. In awe, she reached out and grabbed it. She took a bite, and then another. It tasted just right like the ones she got at McDisney's with all her favorite condiments.

The dream realm was so dark.

She imagined the sun shining down on her and lo and behold the sun began to rise in the horizon until it was directly above her beaming down and illuminating all around her.

As she walked on through the nothingness she created a meadow and flowers for her path. She added some happy looking trees and some fluffy clouds as she went. Then she waved her hand to bring up a breeze that rustled the leaves and made the inanimate clouds float through her sunny sky.

“Nice,” she said to herself as she looked around. Every step she took she felt she was drawing nearer to where Regina was. It was like she had an internal compass guiding her.

After some time with no sign of her, Emma left her meadow and her sun and found herself on the very edge of the dreaming. She hit a black wall of void, and to her dismay she was certain Regina was trapped behind it.

She tried to touch the solid black wall, but couldn’t grasp it. She called out, but found she had no voice. As she looked down at her hands she couldn’t see her body. Fear and doubt started to creep into her mind like a thick fog. What if she was wrong? What if Regina wasn’t here? Or there was no way to break through the void and reach her?

There were no more scrumptious Cherna-burgers and no more dreams. Her sun was beginning to set in the distance behind her. For the first time she felt cold, and the desolate isolation of the nothingness was pulling on her; pulling her down with it. But this, she knew in what was left of her heart, wasn’t a dream. She wouldn’t wake up from this. She was here in all ways and this was happening.

She felt herself merging with the void, panic overtook her, and for a brief moment she ceased to exist. She was only atoms, close but not touching. She was everything and she was nothing, and the dreams and hopes and thoughts of the entire universe were inside her, but she was nothing.

Then through the din a thought floated by and she reached out for it, trying to grasp it with her nothingness. She sensed the idea and pulled it closer until it was a whisper of a thing and she could just make it out: dream bigger.

And she pushed and fought to keep her tiny million pieces that made up her essence together. She coalesced in a rush of light and particles, and pushed through the void to the other side. She bent the stars and the heavens to reach through, but she had done it. True love transcends any realm.

There was Regina, waiting.

Emma cried out in relief and Regina looked up and gasped raggedly. She looked weary and frightened, and shiny tear tracks were visible on her face. Emma shuddered and ran to her.

“Are you real?” Regina blinked and held out her hands. Emma noticed that Regina’s dress looked tattered and her hair was wild, which was a far cry from the usual state of rigid perfection Regina maintained at all times. She helped her to her feet and wrapped her up in a long soul-loving hug.

“Are you?” Emma questioned as she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the long overdue reunion.

“Oh, of course…I thought you’d never…I thought you were lost to me,” Regina whispered in saddest voice Emma had ever heard.

“It took me awhile, but I’m here…” Emma rubbed Regina’s back when she felt her body shake with sobs.

“Mother, she put me in this place. I couldn’t get out, and you…I didn’t have you,” Regina pulled back arm’s length as she realized something and swatted at Emma in anger. “It took you long enough to find me!”

Emma burst out in laughter, and Regina’s face tightened for a moment until she too, started to laugh.

“Let’s go,” Emma took her hand and led her carefully, confidently through the wall and back to the Dream Realm. She kept hold of Regina’s hand and magic began to swell where their fingers entwined. They started to run together just because they could. It finally felt like they were free and literally in a limitless world.

“This is your dream?” Regina stopped when they reached the meadow. “You created this place?”

“Yeah,” Emma sat down in the grass and hugged her knees. Regina kneeled beside her. With a thought alone Emma redressed Regina and fixed her hair. “We can do anything here.”

Regina marveled at the beautiful crimson dress Emma had imagined for her. She lunged forward and tackled Emma on the thick grass. Emma had never heard Regina giggle until this moment, and then their smiles quieted as something else took hold and both women studied each other. Regina trailed her fingers over Emma’s cheek in wonder.

“I missed you,” she said softly and with such sincerity that Emma leaned up and kissed her slowly, sensually and properly expressing her similar thought. The whole time they were separated the need for this shared touch and intimacy had been building and rising like a fever in Emma.

She surprised Regina by rolling them over in the grass and pressing the length of her body down onto her. Regina surprised her too when she reached down, hiked up her velvet skirt and spread her legs before wrapping them around Emma and trapping her between them.

Emma stroked Regina’s hair gently and she smiled shyly but her eyes were sparkling with want. “We can stay here. We can live in this dream forever if we want to,” Emma promised as she lowered her head to Regina’s chest and held her protectively as they basked in the warmth and magic radiating between them.

“Who is it that comes wholly formed to my land?”

Emma heard the voice come booming from somewhere above, and she was suddenly eclipsed by a shadow. Regina opened her eyes in fright, and Emma heard and felt the vibration of her voice rumble deep in her chest when she exclaimed, “Daniel!”


	22. Epilogue: Your Dream is Her World

It turned out that King Daniel was a pretty nice Endless being. When he saw who was making magic all over his dreamland he lightened up quite a bit and greeted Regina with a friendly hug. Emma realized the dude was totally gayer than fairy Barry and she never should have been jealous of Regina wanting to meet with him.

Their engagement, as it was called, was basically a ruse to give him the option to entrust the realm with a capable Queen, but clearly the only engagement and wedding that would be happening was the one between the two princesses…

**Four months later…**

“The raven dropped the mail. There’s a letter from Mal, and one from my mom,” Emma called to Regina through one of the back windows of their new palace. She was outside working on the dreamscaping.

“What’d she say?” Regina asked as she bent over her beautiful meat eating pitcher plants and fed them a bucket of guts with a loving smile as she took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Ursula actually found herself a handsome sea dragon; apparently he has a really big Kraken and makes her squirt her ink like crazy,” Emma announced as she read the Mal’s letter.

“Fantastic,” Regina drawled, as she used a hoe to chase a sand worm from her Midnight Orchids.

Emma unrolled the parchment bearing the seal of the Light Kingdom and scanned the letter from her mother with a frown. “Mom says the usual stuff. Dad is doing well. She doesn’t like that it costs extra for postage to the Dream Realm, wants us to move closer to home. She also wants us to spend the Spring Equinox at the Summer Palace. Think you can handle another holiday with my parents?”

“Well, you did spend Winter Solstice with my mother, and you were on your best behavior, so I suppose I can compromise,” Regina smiled up at Emma through the window.

“Come inside. We really need to finish unpacking the U-carriage stuff and find a place to put it.”

The Dream palace was fully loaded with state of the art amenities, which mainly got their only use as surfaces and locations for Regina and Emma to have sex on. They were particularly fond of the Jacuzzi tubs with high pressure dream streams. The bedchamber was magic retardant as that was where things tended to really heat up at night. Two magic princesses making love in a world of endless possibility and creation got intense. They had the whole palace to themselves as Regina had moved her dad into his own sweet digs adjacent to theirs.

Emma kissed her wife when she entered their palace and led her by the hand into the study. “Mike sent over the final drafts of “The Merging of Shadow and Light: A revised fairytale of Princess Emma and Princess Regina.”

“I think the title needs to be cut down, but how is it coming along?” Regina took a seat at the desk and started thumbing through the thick parchment looking through it with keen eye.

Emma sighed, “It’s awful. You can totally tell our story is written by a man. He always refers to me as ‘the blonde’ and to you as the brunette,’ I’m so much more than just a blonde! And who writes our first kiss as ‘their tongues battled for dominance’?”

“Oh, you should have listened to me and let my Exquisite bard write the book, dear,” Regina sighed and then chuckled at the memory of her particular writing preferences.

Emma nudged Regina’s shoulder, and waggled her eyebrows. “Our story would have been unfit for the eyes’ of children. She would have focused less on the story and more on the fantasy, but that is what people like to read- at least in the Shadow Kingdom.”

“Oh, no that’s what people prefer to read everywhere. So aside from the epithets and domineering tongues, did your poor bard get our story right?” Regina bit her lip and looked up at Emma.

“Yeah, but he didn’t make a big enough deal about me slaying the dragon,” Emma said in a disheartened tone.

“Yes, I know you were really brave and badass and killed that tiny dragon with your bare hands to save the dirty rats. You should have earned a medal of honor,” Regina placated her with a sly smile.

“Do you want to hear part of the final chapter? It’s mostly expository, but I think the next draft will be better,” Emma flipped to the very last page of the story and read it aloud:

_When Emma found Regina their shared magic freed her from Cora’s banishment. They met Regina’s childhood friend, Daniel, the King of Dreams. It turned out Emma really had no reason to be jealous of the guy. He was a bit freaky looking, but he was nice enough and he was impressed with Emma’s raw ability to mold the dreaming as she willed._

_He had been looking for someone to turn over the keys to the castle, so to speak, so he could go on an extended million light year vacation. Regina and Emma were looking for a realm to rule, and one thing led to another._

_They had their own castle to decorate and wasted no time moving in together. Shortly after followed a simple wedding in the dream realm. Both brides wore silver gowns to represent the marrying of shadow and light. The wedding was attended by the royal families of both the Light and Shadow Kingdoms._

_And the Queens of the Dream Realm lived happily ever after in true love forevermore. The End._

“That’s it?” Regina asked when Emma finished reading.

“Well, yeah, it’s written for kids and they like pictures and simple to understand stories with clear messages. But the good news is Mom said the publisher likes what they read so far and think that our story could be even bigger than Princess Elsa of Arendelle’s.”

“I just think it’s missing something,” Regina put her hands on Emma’s arms and looked up into her eyes.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Emma hated to see that sad look of longing on her wife’s face. “Which reminds me: the Sandmen are complaining about the weeds in the Nightmare Fields again. Regina, you have to stop visiting kids just to watch them. It’s creepy to see some smiling lady in a gown hovering about within a dream.”

“I want a baby,” Regina pouted. “I mean I love our cat, Cupcake, but he’s made of pure evil.”

“I know, I paid extra for a purebred,” Emma stated proudly.

“I’m willing to wait until the right child comes along,” Regina tried to compromise with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

“We’re not kidnapping one. I’m not having that discussion again,” Emma scolded her. “And _no_ on scouring the woods every time there’s a twister.”

“But abandoned babies are free game, everyone knows that.”

She took Regina’s hands and pulled her over to the love seat to continue the conversation. “You know, your ogre nephew isn’t very bright except for his neon green skin, but he’s pretty cute. We could ask always Zelena to be a surrogate. She seems really happy with the Gorilla king.”

“I don’t want an ogre,” Regina said dreamily as she relaxed in Emma’s arms and allowed herself to be held.

“How about one of those flying monkeys- half dragons, half ape hybrid orphans that we saw advertised at the shelter? They need loving homes too.” Emma tried again.

“I want a _human_ baby,” Regina dismissed Emma’s suggestions, and closed her eyes.

“So picky,” Emma teased and leaned over to kiss her sweetly. An idea occurred to her as she slid her hands under Regina’s blouse and ran her finger tips over her the body she’d come to love and spent so much time with.

Her skills as a lover had been nearly perfected with practice, and she finally had her special night time perversion request granted. Much to her pleasure Regina granted it over and over anytime she wished for it. Of course, Emma was happy to grant Regina’s wishes as well in any position she felt like trying.

“Why do we need anyone else to give us what we want? We have true love magic and our only limitation is our own imagination,” Emma propped her head up on her hand, her eyes were gleaming and everything was falling into place.

“Clever darling…we should put that phrase on the welcome sign.”

“I’m being serious,” Emma gazed into Regina’s eyes, and knew she was onto something special. “If we can make magic when we make love, why can’t we make a baby?”

Regina kissed her again with gratitude and adoration, “I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try.”

Emma was filled with a spectacular feeling of hope. They would live happily forevermore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you for reading, I spent all summer writing this story, so please leave me a comment and tell me how you feel. Feedback would make me so happy. 
> 
> I am so grateful to, and want to thank, LurkAmo and SpaceDementia5 for motivating me as this would not have been completed without their daily encouragement. Also, they were absolute champs on editing and proofreading to point out inconsistencies and mistakes even when I acted like a control freak diva. (I gave up on correcting the comma mistakes) 
> 
> I want to thank Ariestess for betaing the first chapters. Thanks so much to Wistfulwatcher for the awesome cover art!
> 
> I also would like to thank redcharcoal for the feedback on my dragon attack chapter, and sending me an excerpt of the action scene from her new novel, The Red Files, as an example to help me out. By the way, the novel is simply splendid! 
> 
> Thanks to Fictorium and Writetherest for organizing and hosting the SQ big bang. I am so happy to be a part of this creative endeavor and putting some thoughts out into the collective unconscious. 
> 
> I must also mention I was greatly inspired by numerous songs while writing this and bonus points for anyone who can figure out what songs the titles of the chapters are from. I also borrowed this version of Daniel from the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman, a huge inspiration. 
> 
> Next up from me: I'll be working on my ongoing fics "Mystery Hours" and "Falling in My Lemonade." Also working on my wedding planner AU "Something Safe For the Picture Frame." Plus, I'm sure I'll write canon divergence fanfics based on season 5 of OUAT. Come be my friend on facebook, tumblr, twitter, AO3, ff.net...the usual.


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